Pokémon Thunder Yellow: Kanto Adventures
by Orangen
Summary: Yellow, Fire Red, and Leaf Green based. Ren's pretty average, or at least until she gets a Pokémon... She'd much rather stay normal, but her Pikachu won't have any of that. Chapter Forty Seven: Vs Raichu III!
1. Prologue: Vs Pikachu!

_Disclaimer:_ I do not, unfortunately, own the copyrights to Yellow or Fire Red and Leaf Green. Nor do I own Pokémon Special, or the anime (thankfully on that one) in case of any references.

_Author's Note: _Having recently gotten re-addicted to both Leaf Green and Yellow, and being upset about the lack of a Yellow remake, I decided to write a Yellow/FR/LG crossover-ish thing. And this is kinda short, but it is the prologue after all.

**Prologue: Vs Pikachu!**

"Do I have to?"

The first words that flew out of Ren Mason's mouth at lunch were decidedly antagonistic. Her mother sat across from her, rubbing her temples. Ren sighed and poked her potato with her fork while she waited for Mrs. Mason's reply.

"Yes, Ren," Mrs. Mason began. "It's just up to Viridian City. I have some housework to do, so do you see why I need you to run and get my order?"

"I guess."

While Ren's answer was dubious at best, Mrs. Mason simply smiled wearily in response. She sighed as she spread butter over her own potato.

"It's okay, Ren. I think you can do it."

"It's not that, Mom!" Ren replied defensively. "I mean, I almost forgot that I got lost last time until you brought that up… And the time before that I bought the wrong thing… And—"

"Oh, Ren…" Mrs. Mason shook her head. "I said you'll be fine. I called the clerk ahead of time and he has the item I ordered set aside. Okay?"

"Okay," Ren repeated quietly.

She and her mother silently put a forkful of their lunch in their mouths. Frowning under her fork, Ren hurriedly swallowed. The faster she ate, the faster she'd be able to do the errand, and therefore even if she got confused again, she'd still be back by dark…

* * *

Ren twirled one of her blonde ponytails around her finger as she walked through Pallet Town's small, brick pathways. She was quite familiar with these paths, and she often wandered around daydreaming, but going out to Viridian was never one of her favorite things to do. If she daydreamed while walking outside Pallet, there was always the chance that she'd trip on something.

Nervously adjusting the hem of her blue T-shirt, Ren arrived at the northern edge of town, near the dirt path leading to Viridian. It had been a while since she'd last gone, and didn't feel entirely confident about this trip.

Closing her eyes, Ren took several slow steps forward. After she succeeded in doing this, she took a few larger steps, eyes still closed. Unfortunately, it was right then that she did indeed step on something.

"P-Pika!"

A small, yellow, mouse-like Pokémon glared up at Ren from the grass. Ren gulped. Pikachu were known for powerful electrical discharges, but they normally lived in forests, not in suburbs…

"Uh…"

Ren stepped back unconsciously. The Pikachu's cheeks sparked and its eyes narrowed. However, it suddenly turned around and ran, apparently deciding it had other things to do.

"Wait! I'm sorry!"

Ren shouted after the Pikachu as she tried to run after it. However, it darted behind a bush, and Ren lost sight of it. Sighing, Ren folded her arms over her stomach and hung her head as she re-located the dirt trail. She'd never been very athletic, but being outrun by the Pikachu was kind of disheartening.

"Hah! Ren? What are you doing out here? And why are your hands and knees bruised?"

A tall, skinny boy with messy brunette hair was carrying a package under his arm as he sized Ren up. Ren mentally sighed again.

Gino Flame had lived next door to Ren practically since they'd been in diapers. They'd used to be pretty good friends, but eventually some of the other boys Gino hung out with made fun of him for playing with a girl. He'd been awkward around her for a while, and then stopped talking to her for a short period of time—and now usually teased her.

"I… I fell," Ren whispered, fidgeting and looking down as she answered the question.

"Well, obviously," Gino snorted. "Whatever. I've got more _important_ things to do."

He shifted the package to his other arm and tossed a smirk over his shoulder as he walked away. Ren sighed as she watched him for a moment, and then trudged back on the way to Viridian. She'd almost asked Gino what the package had been for, but she probably wouldn't have gotten a straight answer from him anyway.

"Besides, I think I have more _important_ things to do," Ren sniffed, trying to mimic Gino.

Feeling a bit better, Ren picked up her pace and hurried on to Viridian.


	2. Chapter One: Vs Eevee!

_Author's Note_: Kinda short again but a bit longer. Meh. Eevee's cool though.

**Chapter One: Vs Eevee!**

Ren hesitantly entered Viridian's Poké Mart. The clerk probably recognized her by now from all the packages her mother had sent her to get, which was pretty embarrassing… Plus, she could never remember his name.

"Oh, Ren! Hey!"

Ren winced as the clerk waved at her and beckoned her over. She slowly walked over to the counter, and he grinned as she approached. Reaching under the counter, his dark hair fell into his face slightly as he picked up the package. He stood back up and handed it to her.

"It's pretty light this time, just a couple potions," he explained casually. "So, how's Melodie's Growlithe doing?"

Ren's mother had had the Growlithe since about three years before Ren was born, and it was getting rather old. At fourteen, he was worn out, and half the trips Ren made were for potions for him.

"Um," Ren replied. "Not really good, I think."

"That's too bad. Well, tell your mother hi for me!"

"O-okay." 

Ren quickly ducked away and exited the Poké Mart. The potions rattled slightly in the box, and Ren quickened her pace so she could get home faster. The longer she took, the more likely she was to lose the package.

Trying to avoid the grassy areas, Ren hurried down the path from Viridian to Pallet. She usually liked to go the grassy way, as she could stop for flowers, but the shorter way was just sticking to the direct path.

Thankfully, Ren managed to get back to Pallet in less than twenty minutes, and soon enough she was standing at her front door, fumbling for her house key. Taking it off the chain in her pocket, she unlocked the door and set the package on the table.

"M-mom! I'm back!"

"Oh, good! You were quicker this time, Ren."

Mrs. Mason entered the front room from the kitchen, smiling. She opened the small box, taking out one of the potions.

"Growlithe!" she called gently.

The small red puppy Pokémon crawled out from under the table. Ren gulped slightly. Watching Growlithe take his medicine always made her a bit queasy.

"Hey, Mom, I'm, uh… going back outside," she said slowly.

"All right," Mrs. Mason replied, looking more at Growlithe than Ren.

Ren quickly opened the door and went outside again. She went around the back of her house and started walking towards the path to Viridian. She wasn't planning on walking all the way back—just going part way to look for flowers or something, as her own back yard was weed-choked.

Before she got very far, however, Ren froze. A little yellow mouse-like Pokémon was untangling itself from a patch of grass. Pikachu were supposed to be forest-dwellers, Ren remembered from one of Gino's smug lectures. Maybe this one was lost?

Sparks started flying from its cheeks when it turned around and saw her. Ren nervously took a step backwards, preparing to run away. However, before she could, a brown blur tackled the Pikachu.

"All right, Eevee, Tackle again!"

The Eevee pulled back slightly and once again collided with the Pikachu. Surprised, the Electric-type tumbled over, and a Pokéball then whirled through the air. It struck the Pikachu, and barely twitched before it closed.

Ren's heartbeat slowed down slightly, but got confused when she looked at the Eevee again. Where had it come from, anyway?

"So, Ren. I really hate having to help you out like that, but catching that Pikachu was more of a help for Uncle than you."

Gino was leaning on a nearby fencepost, smirking, as he withdrew Eevee. Ren sighed and looked away, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Wh-where'd you get an Eevee?" she asked quietly.

"From Uncle," he said mockingly, tossing the Pokéball between his hands. "And anyway, I've got to get going and give him this Pikachu."

"That won't be a problem. I'm right here, Gino."

Ren's eyes widened again. The voice belonged to a gray-haired man in a lab coat, who looked at Gino rather wearily.

"Your sister said you'd gone out again. I was going to check up on Eevee for you, but…"

"Sorry," Gino responded, looking away and not really sounding sorry.

"You're Ren, right? Gino's… said a lot of things about you," the man smiled, extending a hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm…"

"Professor Oak?" Ren gasped, shaking his hand.

"Why, yes," Oak replied mildly. He then turned to Gino. "Gino's my nephew."

"Huh?"

"My mom's older brother," Gino grumbled, still looking away.

"Hm. Gino, can I ask you something?" Oak started.

"Yes?"

"I've already got a pair of Pikachu in my lab. Can you give that one to Ren?"

Ren blinked, staring back and forth between Oak and Gino. She was still trying to process the fact that they were related when they seemed like total opposites, and now Oak wanted her to have a Pokémon?

"It was going after her a second ago," Gino replied distastefully. "Why should I give it to her? She probably couldn't—"

"That's enough, Gino. I think she can do it."

"I—you do?" Ren asked.

"Yes," Oak smiled. "I don't think you'd be as hard on it as Gino would, and that would be a help to something as wild as that Pikachu."

"Aw, whatever," Gino muttered. "Here."

He reluctantly handed Ren the Pokéball, and Ren felt her fingers getting warm as she took it. A total accident had spawned her getting her first Pokémon…

"Take good care of it, Ren," Oak continued. "Oh, and… I'll have a Pokédex sent to your house later. Now come on, Gino, I still need to give Eevee his check-up."

"I'm coming already!"

Ren blinked as she watched the pair leave, still slightly confused. However, she smiled tentatively as she looked at Pikachu's Pokéball, wondering what exactly to do with it. She turned back towards her house, smile spreading into a grin as she slipped the Pokéball into the pocket of her skort.


	3. Chapter Two: Vs Growlithe!

_Author's Notes_: Ah, antagonistic little Pika… Anyway, this is kind of a fun chapter.

Oh, by the way, I now have trainer cards and pictures for everyone in my profile if you want to see them.

**Chapter Two: Vs Growlithe!**

"Mom! I'm… back."

Ren had just unlocked the front door of her house again and entered the front room, wiping her sneakers on the mat. She was still holding her hand around Pikachu's Pokéball in her pocket. Walking into the living room, she saw her mother curled up on the couch, holding a book and petting Growlithe.

"Oh? Hello, Ren," Mrs. Mason grinned as she looked up from her book. "Where'd you go?"

"Um…" Ren looked down for a moment. "Just around here… But…"

She slowly pulled out Pikachu's Pokéball and pressed the release button. The Electric-type frowned as it materialized on the back of the couch, and Mrs. Mason blinked.

"Ren? Where did you get a Pikachu?"

"Pika," Pikachu muttered, as if he was agreeing.

"Well," Ren started. "Gino had him… But Professor Oak already had one, so he told Gino to give him to me…"

"Oh, that's right, Gino's his nephew," Mrs. Mason mused. "His mother's maiden name is Oak—I remember she told me when you two used to hang out all the time."

"Y-yeah…"

"Chu," Pikachu sighed, looking irritated at all the reminiscing.

"He's a charmer," Mrs. Mason teased. "Why don't you let him get used to Growlithe for a little while? See how they get along…"

"O-okay," Ren agreed uncertainly.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Growlithe will be okay. Now go on, little guy."

Mrs. Mason laughed as she tapped Pikachu on the back, causing him to slide down onto the couch cushion nest to Growlithe. Pikachu glared at Mrs. Mason, and then looked at Growlithe and sighed. The Fire-type slowly lifted his head and curiously sniffed Pikachu, and then grinned. Pikachu, however, simply crossed his short arms and closed his eyes.

"He's ignoring Growlithe!" Ren cried.

"Ah well," Mrs. Mason sighed, and then grinned. "Wanna get started on lunch, kiddo?"

"All right…"

Ren followed her mother into the kitchen, glancing nervously over her shoulder. Growlithe was apparently trying to get Pikachu's attention, but the electric mouse was still looking away. Groaning, Ren helped her mother pull a pot out of one of the cabinets, hoping Pikachu would at least look at Growlithe by the time they finished eating…

- - -

"I'll be right back, Ren! I'm getting the mail."

"Okay…"

Ren was clearing the lunch dishes off of the kitchen table when her mother opened the front door. She carefully stacked the bowls in the sink and rinsed them off, and then sat back down as she waited for Mrs. Mason.

A few moments later, the dark-haired woman entered the house again, leaving the door open. She threw a few envelopes onto the table, and then curiously looked at the small box left in her hand.

"This is addressed to you," she said, handing it to her.

Ren quickly opened the box and tilted it forward slightly. A thin red machine slid onto the table, and she and Mrs. Mason stared silently at it for a minute. Then, Ren jumped up and grinned.

"A Pokédex!" she grinned.

"Good going, Ren! Is that from Professor Oak, too?"

"Yep!"

Ren opened the Pokédex, and it beeped as it flashed on. The screen was displaying its "Original Trainer" screen, and it displayed a somewhat old picture of Ren from a year or two ago—it was probably one of the only ones Professor Oak had, after all—and underneath that it listed her name and age. Pressing another button, Ren grinned again as the screen changed to show Pikachu; he was listed as her starter Pokémon, listing _Gender: Male_ and _Nickname: Unspecified_.

"Wanna key in a nickname?" Mrs. Mason asked.

"Okay!"

Ren highlighted the "Nickname" option, and then looked over at Pikachu. He'd crawled to the opposite end of the couch as Growlithe, and was curled up in a ball, not quite asleep. She looked back at her screen again, trying to think of a good name.

"Petro is kind of cute," she said aloud.

On the couch, Pikachu's ears twitched, and he looked up briefly. Mrs. Mason noticed this and flashed a thumbs-up to Ren.

"Hey, he actually responded," she commented. "Put that in."

Ren smiled as she put in the nickname. She hadn't been very confident about starting out with Petro, but now, things were starting to look up.

"Can I start training soon, Mom?" she asked hopefully. "I wanna be as good as Gino someday."

Mrs. Mason laughed slightly. "I guess, as long as you stay around here for now."

"Yay!"

Petro had stood up during this conversation, and was looking back and forth between Ren and Mrs. Mason. He had a slightly irritated look on his face as he crawled onto the top of the couch.

"You know, Ren, I used to train, but I didn't start until later, and all I had was Growlithe. I bet you'll be off to a better start than me."

"Really? I hope so! I mean… um… not like that, but…"

"Chu!"

Petro darted towards the still open door, and Ren gasped. Her hand instinctively flew towards Petro's Pokéball, and she stood up, still holding her Pokédex.

"I'm going to go find him!"

"Ah, Ren, wait—"

Mrs. Mason sighed. Ren had already dashed after the Pikachu, and she doubted she'd even call, let alone come back, until she'd found him.

"I wonder what made him run out, though…?" Mrs. Mason muttered, shaking her head…

- - -

Ren panted as she arrived at the outskirts of Viridian. She hadn't spotted Petro at all as she'd run up Route 1, and she hoped he hadn't gone too far.

After pausing slightly to catch her breath, Ren walked quickly and looked around carefully. Soon, she spotted a flash of yellow behind the Pokémon Center, and she jogged to catch up to it. Sure enough, it was Petro, also stopping to catch his breath.

"Um, Petro?" Ren asked slowly.

"Pika!"

Petro's cheeks sparked, and Ren took a step back. She gulped, trying to come up with something quickly.

"Well, uh… Is it about training? Or me?"

Petro's cheeks sparked after the second question, and Ren took that as a yes. She bit her tongue, trying not to get upset.

"Er… If it makes you feel better… I guess I can let you stay out of your Pokéball."

Petro blinked, and the static at his cheeks died down. Ren hoped the surprised look on his face was a good thing, and timidly took a step towards him.

"Okay, good! Now, um, let's call Mom, okay? To tell her where we are?"

"Chu…"

Petro nodded somewhat reluctantly, but still followed after Ren as she ducked into the Pokémon Center. She slid onto one of the phone booths and quickly dialed her home number. Her mother's face quickly appeared on the screen.

"Oh, Ren, I was starting to wonder where you'd gotten off to! So, did you find Petro?"

"Yep! He's right here!"

Petro waved at the screen somewhat dismissively, and Mrs. Mason chuckled.

"So, did he just not like his Pokéball or something?"

"I guess."

"Well then… If the little guy likes to run around so much, I guess just staying around here won't be good enough for him."

Ren felt her eyes widen. "What does that mean, Mom?"

"Go on out and start training!" Mrs. Mason grinned. "You know I've got your back if anything happens, right?"

"W-wow! Thanks, Mom!" Ren sniffled slightly.

"Aw, don't worry about it," Mrs. Mason replied nonchalantly. "I think it'll help you and Petro. Good luck, Ren!"

"B-bye, Mom!"

The screen went blank, and a large smile spread on Ren's face. She looked down at Petro, who still seemed rather unfazed.

"Well, this is it! Time to start, Petro!"

She stood up again, and Petro looked up at her as she reached her hand down.

"Partners?"

"Pi…" 

Petro grabbed her hand, and Ren grinned. However, he then smiled deviously, and sent a small spark out of his hand. Ren jerked back slightly as the spark hit her fingers.

"A… great… start," she groaned, and Petro giggled.


	4. Chapter Three: Vs Nidoran M!

_Author's Notes_: Meh… Catching two Pokémon in one chapter isn't something I'd normally do, but… I like the Nidos. Plus this is a good time to get them, I guess. Oh, and I do know they were moved in FRLG, but you _can_ catch them next to Viridian in Yellow.

**Chapter Three: Vs Nidoran M!**

"Well, Petro, let's start around here!"

Ren grinned to the Pikachu as the pair left the Pokémon Center. They'd stayed the night, and now Ren was eager to start training. Petro frowned as Ren looked down at him.

"Come on… I can try, right?"

"Pika…"

Petro yawned, and Ren sighed. At least the Pikachu hadn't Thundershocked her yet that morning, or tried to run away again. In fact, while he still seemed a bit angry, Petro didn't seem specifically angry with Ren anymore.

The Electric-type darted around Ren as she looked around Viridian. She curiously neared the west side of town, spotting a small alcove between a few trees.

"This looks like a good place to practice, right, Petro?"

"Chu."

Petro folded his short arms contrarily. Ren sighed again.

"Please, Petro?"

"Pi."

Suddenly, a nearby tree shook, and a purple, spiked Pokémon with large ears glared at Ren. Ren backed up a few feet, gulping.

"Wh-what did I do?" she swallowed.

"Nido…" The Nidoran growled. He jerked his head towards the area Ren had just been standing in, and a few feet away, a small, blue Pokémon was curled up in a ball, covered in minor scratches.

"But I didn't…" Ren started nervously.

The Nidoran rolled his eyes as if to say, "Duh." He then glared at Ren again, after looking protectively at the female Nidoran. Ren blinked, taking another step back. However, the Nidoran charged at her, his horn lowered, and rammed into her leg.

"Ow!" Ren cried, grabbing her leg as she staggered back. "But I didn't do anything… Petro, what should I do?"

The Pikachu scowled, but quickly released a Thundershock at the Poison-type. Nidoran skidded back a few feet, slightly singed. Petro then darted towards him, sparks forming around his fist. He then struck Nidoran with Thunder Punch, and Nidoran collapsed.

"Pika," Petro said arrogantly, closing his eyes and sighing in victory.

"D-did you really have to do that?" Ren stammered.

"Pika!" Petro grinned and nodded. He then looked as if he had an idea, and jumped up towards Ren's leg, managing to tap the pocket where her spare Pokéballs were.

"What? But that Nidoran was mad at me!"

"Chu," Petro shrugged and turned away.

"I guess… I shouldn't just leave them there," Ren murmured to herself. "Especially not the female Nidoran…"

She hesitantly took two Pokéballs, and tossed the first one at the male Nidoran. It shook several times before clicking shut. Ren then threw the second at the female Nidoran, and the Pokéball barely twitched this time.

Ren grinned slightly as she took the two Pokéballs, and Petro opened an eye to look up at her. She put the Pokéballs in her pocket, and headed towards the Pokémon Center again.

"I need to get them healed, Petro," she said.

"Pi," Petro sighed, tagging along behind her reluctantly.

- - -

"Ren Mason?"

Ren scurried up to the counter to get her Pokémon back from the nurse. The pink-haired woman smiled as Ren took her Pokéballs.

"Your female Nidoran was only a bit scratched, but I'm wondering what happened to the male," the nurse mused.

"Um…" Ren looked down at Petro, who suddenly pretended to look innocent. "That was Petro's fault."

"You might want to be more careful with your Pikachu then." The nurse shook her head. "It's good that you brought them in though. Come again if you need to."

"O-okay."

Ren quickly headed into the Pokémon Center's cafeteria. Fortunately, the line wasn't very long, and she grabbed a bowl of rice, heading over to the closest empty table.

Letting Petro pick at her rice a bit, Ren took out her Nidorans' Pokéballs and released them onto the chair next to her. The female blinked confusedly, and then inspected herself, looking even more surprised when she realized she wasn't injured anymore. The male, however, was still scowling.

"Hey guys," Ren said, trying to smile. "Um… You don't mind, do you?"

After a moment, the female nodded, and Ren sighed in relief. The male sighed, looked at the female, and then nodded too.

"Okay! Do you want nicknames? Rex and Regina sound nice together," Ren tried.

The female Nidoran grinned, and the male nodded reluctantly after her. Ren grinned back, and then looked over at Petro and gasped.

"Petro! M-my rice!"

The Pikachu had somehow managed to polish off nearly three-fourths of the bowl. Petro grinned impishly and took a few more grains of rice.

"Aw, no… I guess just share the rest with them," Ren sighed. "I'll go get another bowl…"

Ren slowly stood up and went back to the lunch line. However, she smiled slightly when she looked over her shoulder and saw Rex and Regina sharing the bowl.


	5. Chapter Four: Vs Caterpie!

_Author's Note_: Huzzah, Viridian Forest! …Meh. Got sick of the place after seeing Weedle and Caterpie all the time. Anyway. This chapter's kinda short too, but I think it's better this way…

**Chapter Four: Vs Caterpie!**

Ren grinned as she scanned the map poster in Viridian's Pokémon Center. If she went through Viridian Forest to the north, she might be able to reach Pewter City by the end of the day. Then she could try for a Boulder Badge.

"Hey, Petro!" she called.

The Pikachu had been curled up on one of the couches in the lobby, and he lazily opened one eye, blinking at her before scampering over to her. She'd been thinking about what to do next, and Petro had gotten bored quickly.

"Wanna go to Pewter City? There's a gym there."

"Pika."

Petro shrugged and raised his paws in the air, as if to say, "If you want to." Ren sighed, but started walking towards the Pokémon Center's door.

"Okay, then… Let's go, Petro!"

"Chu."

Petro hopped after Ren as she left the building. Ren slowly walked around the neatly-trimmed pathways of Viridian, taking several turns. She hadn't actually gotten the chance to look around the town very much, so she was rather uncertain of which paths went where.

However, after several minutes of wandering around, she eventually reached the northern edge of town. The neat pathways of Viridian tapered into dirt paths with unruly weeds and shrubs, and Ren gulped slightly. Despite the fact that she'd gone between Pallet and Viridian enough times, the trail to Viridian Forest was making her nervous.

"Pika!"

Petro poked Ren on the knee suddenly. She grinned sheepishly at him as she started walking again.

"I'm okay, Petro," she said aloud, rather unconvincingly.

"Ka," Petro sighed, obviously not believing her.

After a few more moments, a few trees were visible around the path. Soon, the trees became closer together, and there were several large shrubs and other plants surrounding the winding trail as well.

Ren gulped again. Even though light was still coming down from above, wandering around in such a large place was a bit scary. Petro merely shook his head when he looked up at her.

Tentatively taking a few steps forward, Ren stopped again when she reached a fork in the path. She looked between both trails for a few seconds, and then at Petro. He closed his eyes and spun around a few times, paw outstretched. When he stopped spinning, he was pointing towards the rightward path, and Ren giggled slightly as they went on. Even if this was the longer way out of the forest, Petro seemed to be pleased with himself.

Suddenly, a tree branch above Ren's head, and she shrieked. Seconds later, a Caterpie crawled down the tree trunk, and Petro rolled his eyes.

"Oh," Ren mumbled, and then brightened up. "Hey, it's cute! I kind of want it… Um, Petro, will you use Thundershock?"

"Pika…"

Petro reluctantly shot the light spark towards the Caterpie. Surprised, it tumbled off the trunk and onto the ground. It looked around, confused, and then noticed Petro. It suddenly looked angry, narrowing its large eyes and quickly shooting a strand of string out of its mouth at Petro.

"Chu?" Petro asked, actually looking curious as he touched the string.

Caterpie still continued with the String Shot, though, and soon Petro was wrapped from the neck down in a large white cocoon. Ren's eyes widened, and Petro glared.

"Pika!" he cried, trying to use Thundershock again.

However, the angry Caterpie shot two small pieces of string to cover Petro's cheeks. Petro glared, and Caterpie looked immensely pleased with itself.

"Petro!" Ren cried. "Hold on!"

She quickly knelt down next to him, tugging on the sticky string. Petro winced, looking ready to Thundershock her if he could have.

"I-I'm trying!"

Unfortunately, Ren had never been very good with crafts, especially anything concerning string or glue. It took her quite a while to totally untie Petro, and she saved the bits on his cheeks for last just in case he actually did feel inclined to shock her.

Several minutes later, the large wad of string was lying on the ground, and Petro was inching away from it, rubbing his cheek pads. Ren giggled, but Petro glared again, and she quickly stopped. She then looked back where Caterpie was, and gasped.

"It's gone!" she cried.

Petro grinned, his eyes reading, "Good riddance!" Ren sighed as she looked at him, and slowly took a few more steps forward.

"Oh well. I don't think it would have liked me anyway. Let's hurry, Petro."

Petro eagerly scampered after Ren, obviously wanting to get through the forest just as much as she did…


	6. Chapter Five: Vs Butterfree!

_Author's Notes_: Viridian Forest, take two. Hey, at least we'll be to Pewter soon. But not without some more bugs…

**Chapter Five: Vs Butterfree!**

_Snap!_

Ren jumped when she stepped on a small tree branch, snapping it. Petro giggled slightly as Ren's heart rate returned to normal.

"Petro!" Ren groaned as she took another step. "I was really scared!"

"Pika," Petro sighed, shrugging.

"What's that mean—whoa!"

As Ren put her foot forward, a rope suddenly caught around it and yanked Ren upwards. Soon she was dangling upside down from a tree branch, her eyes wide. She tried to reach for the rope, but couldn't get her arms up far enough.

"Petro! Help!"

"Chu!"

Surprisingly, Petro actually agreed right away. He attempted to shoot a Thundershock up towards the rope, but missed and singed Ren's ponytails instead.

"Aha! A Pokémon!"

Suddenly, a new voice rang out, and a large net swung down on Petro. Ren shrieked as Petro growled and started sparking at the cheeks.

However, the source of the net soon revealed itself to be a short boy wearing a large straw hat. He frowned as he saw Petro and then sighed.

"Aw, man, it's just a Pikachu."

He slowly pulled the net off of Petro, and the Pikachu glared. The Electric-type then jumped up and down furiously, still growling.

"Whatever. Hey, if that Pikachu's there…"

"Um…"

"What did I catch in my rope trap?"

"Excuse me," Ren said timidly. "Could you please let me down?"

"Oh. Great, I got a_person_. Okay, hold on a second."

The boy quickly loosened the rope around Ren's foot, and she landed on the ground in a rather ungraceful heap. She slowly stood up and brushed herself off a bit, blushing.

"Um… Sorry about ruining your trap…"

"Aw, it's okay, girl, I wasn't getting anything in it anyway," the boy shrugged. "Oh, my name's Kent, by the way. You?"

"R-Ren," she stammered slightly, but tried to smile. Petro merely rolled his eyes, having looked sarcastic the whole time. "Um, and this is Petro."

"Hah. Hey, how many other Pokémon do you have?"

"Well, two… but…"

"Great! I've got three, too! Wanna battle?"

"What?" Ren's eyes widened again. "I've never had a real battle before…"

"Huh?" Kent gaped. "You've gotta start somewhere, you know! Come on! I'll start with Caterpie."

He pulled a Pokéball out of the small bag he was carrying and released a Caterpie. Despite the fact that it was obviously a different one, Petro glared and crossed his arms as best he could, putting his nose in the air. Ren sighed instead pulled Regina's Pokéball out of her pocket.

"Okay, Petro, you don't have to… Come on, Regina…"

The Nidoran appeared beside Ren, blinking at the Caterpie and then bracing all four feet on the ground in a ready position. She looked up at Ren as the blonde decided what to do.

"Um… I guess try Scratch!"

"Use Tackle, Caterpie!"

Regina darted towards Caterpie as it crawled towards her. The two collided at the same time and rolled backwards a bit. Petro grinned and Ren sighed in relief when Regina got back up.

Caterpie managed to get up, too, however, but it looked slightly dizzy. There was a small cut on its side that looked a bit purple, and it had probably been poked by one of Regina's spikes.

"I feel kinda bad for this… But use Scratch again!"

Regina dashed towards Caterpie again, stretching out her small claws. She managed to strike it before it could crawl away, and Caterpie curled up in a heap. Kent sighed as he reached for Caterpie's Pokéball.

"Guess I better switch. Come on, Metapod!"

"I'll switch too… I want to try Rex."

Kent released a green, cocoon-like Pokémon with droopy eyes. Meanwhile, Ren withdrew Regina, and Rex materialized beside her.

"Try Peck, Rex!" Ren suggested brightly.

"Harden, Metapod!"

Rex sighed and looked over his shoulder at Ren, but reluctantly charged forward towards Metapod. The Bug-type, however, simply stayed where it was, and it seemed to glint slightly. When Rex lowered his head to strike with his horn, the attack barely pierced Metapod.

"Ha, ha! Metapods protect themselves like that," Kent sang.

"N-now what should I do?" Ren cried.

"Pika…"

Petro frowned, and then looked over at Rex. The Poison-Type cocked his head to the side, but nodded. Ren blinked, but when she noticed Rex digging into the ground with his back foot, she understood.

"Okay, try Double Kick!"

"Harden again!"

Rex swiftly charged towards Metapod. It started to glint again, but Rex spun around and kicked it, sending it flying backwards and catching it off guard. Then, Rex caught up to it and rammed his other foot into it, knocking it out.

"Wow…" Kent shook his head as he withdrew Metapod. "I really haven't had many battles either… But I thought I'd do better than this. Anyway, this is my best Pokémon!"

A large, butterfly Pokémon appeared beside Kent, delicately flapping its wings. Its wide eyes were admittedly a bit creepy, Ren thought as she gulped.

"Okay, Butterfree, let's go with Confusion!"

Butterfree glowed, its aura looking slightly purple, and blasted the energy at Rex. He tumbled back towards Ren and landed near her feet. Despite struggling back up, he was panting and sweating a bit.

"No, come back, Rex!" Ren shook her head and withdrew Rex. "Okay, Petro, it's your turn. Do your best!"

"Pika…" Petro rolled his eyes again, but sized up Butterfree and nodded.

"All right, use Thundershock!"

"Tackle, Butterfree!"

Butterfree dove towards Petro, and the Pikachu smirked. As Butterfree approached, Petro discharged some electricity from his cheeks, literally shocking it. It crashed down to the ground, but eventually managed to get back in the air.

"Ack! Use Confusion this time!"

"Try Thundershock again," Ren said hopefully.

Butterfree glowed again, surrounded by the energy blast. It started to launch the attack at Petro, but the mouse Pokémon blasted a Thundershock at the Confusion just in time, causing the two attacks to strike and cancel each other out.

Petro then launched another Thundershock, managing to hit Butterfree this time. The Bug-type crashed to the ground, almost if not already fainted.

Kent blinked before withdrawing Butterfree. "Whoa, I really didn't expect that! Your Pikachu's actually good!"

"Chu?" Petro demanded, sparking at the cheeks again.

"Oh, uh, never mind!" Kent grinned sheepishly.

"Well, I couldn't have done it without Petro!"

"Pika!"

Kent and Ren laughed as Petro rolled his eyes yet again. Then Kent scratched the back of his neck and looked to the side.

"Well, I probably better stay here and get some new Pokémon. Are you heading to Pewter?"

"Yep! I wanna fight Brock."

"Okay…" Kent put his chin in his hand thoughtfully. "Well, I'm pretty sure if you follow the path I just came from and keep going straight, you'll be able to get to Pewter soon. But, I noticed that Weedles like to hang out a lot over there, too."

"I'll be careful! Thanks!"

"Chu…"

Ren and Petro waved as they started walking away. Ren grinned as she walked along. She felt a lot better after winning, and hoped she'd fight well against Brock too.

Unfortunately, Ren became lost in thought, and then had to scramble to even keep up with Petro…


	7. Chapter Six: Vs Aerodactyl!

_Author's Note_: And we're in Pewter! The Science Museum, to be more precise. Although fifty bucks is a lot to look at two fossils and a Moon Stone (so, I lowered it). Anyway I did find it strange that Brock wouldn't go there but then again Gym Leaders aren't allowed to do anything else… (rolls eyes) Yeah…

**Chapter Six: Vs Aerodactyl!**

"We're here, Petro!"

Ren had followed Kent's directions to the T—sure she was a bit forgetful, but she was good with directions. After another hour or so of wandering around, the trees had started to spread out, and Ren and Petro had arrived at the edge of the forest. Now, they were walking down a cobblestone path to the outskirts of Pewter City.

Grinning, Ren started walking a bit faster, and they soon arrived in a large, completely paved city with winding roads and sidewalks and several large buildings. It was fairly dark out by now, and the column-like lamps were all lit. Petro sighed at Ren's excitement, but still scampered along to keep up with her.

Ren's stomach suddenly growled, and she stopped walking as she grinned sheepishly. Cocking his head to the side, Petro looked up at her, sighing.

"Chu?"

"Um, let's stop at the Pokémon Center first… Then we can look around some more." 

"Pi," Petro replied, shrugging.

After several turns, Ren managed to find the Pokémon Center. Like everything else in Pewter, even the Pokémon Center looked big to Viridian's, Ren realized as she slid open the glass door.

Several other trainers were loitering around the lobby, probably waiting for their Pokémon to be healed. Some were reading magazines, while others were eating snacks or talking. Ren nervously looked around as she headed up to the counter, where an attendant was waiting.

"Uh, I…" Ren started.

"Need your Pokémon healed?" the woman finished, smiling. "All right, dear. Is it just your Pikachu?"

"N-no, I have two Nidorans too," Ren explained, taking out Rex and Regina's Pokéballs. She handed them to the attendant, and Petro reluctantly jumped up onto the counter.

"Okay. It may be a little while, because the main nurse has a lot of Pokémon right now. We'll page you when your Pokémon have been healed, okay?"

"Okay!" Ren grinned. "Bye, Petro!"

Petro sighed, and the attendant laughed slightly. Ren quickly ducked away from the counter, wondering what to do. After a few moments, she noticed a sign pointing towards the Pokémon Center's cafeteria. It was then that Ren remembered that she was hungry, and eagerly followed the sign's directions.

Fortunately, the line was fairly short, and Ren took a roll and a piece of pizza from the dinner bar. However, the cafeteria was still somewhat crowded, and it was hard to find an empty table to sit at. Ren eventually managed to find a table near the back to sit at, but felt slightly uncomfortable as she ate. Even though everyone else in the cafeteria was paying attention to someone else at their own table, she didn't like eating around crowds.

Ren ate somewhat quickly, and after throwing the plastic plate away, she returned to the lobby. A couple more trainers had come in, and Ren sighed. Her Pokémon probably wouldn't be back for a while.

Curling up on one of the couches around the room, Ren took a magazine off of one of the nearby tables. It was a Pokémon Journal, this issue featuring capture tips and type match-ups.

As Ren flipped through the pages, her eyes started to droop slightly, and she shook her head. She had to stay awake to hear when her Pokémon would be healed…

- - -

"Number Twenty-Four: Pikachu, Nidoran, and Nidoran! Your Pokémon are at the front counter! Pikachu, Nidoran, and Nidoran…"

Ren jolted awake, and the Pokémon Journal slid off of her lap. Apparently, she'd fallen asleep after all, but at least the announcement had been fairly loud.

Embarrassedly, Ren scurried up to the counter, and a different attendant handed her Rex and Regina's Pokéballs. Petro hopped over the counter as well, looking somewhat relieved. The Pikachu rolled his eyes slightly as he and Ren walked away from the counter, and Ren giggled.

"You don't like crowds either, do you?"

"Pika!" Petro nodded, waving his hands as if to say, "Duh!"

"Well… I saw a sign pointing towards the common room earlier. Maybe… Maybe that won't be too full…"

Petro sighed as Ren searched for the directions to the common room again. She quickly found the sign, and then followed the correct hallway to a large, square-shaped room where the lights had been slightly dimmed. Several sleeping bags were already spread out across the room, and a few trainers were lounging around. Ren and Petro both breathed in relief—it might get worse later, but at least it wasn't too crowded now.

Ren took one of the provided sleeping bags from the box near the door, and unrolled it near the back of the room. Petro peeked inside, and Ren giggled again. She crawled into the sleeping bag, and Petro decided to curl up in the extra space on the side of it.

As Ren closed her eyes, she hoped she'd get to look around more the next day, and it was on that thought that she fell asleep again.

- - -

"Pika!"

The next morning, Ren woke up to Petro shaking her. As she opened her eyes, Petro folded his arms and frowned. Ren blinked and yawned as she crawled out of her sleeping bag, and Petro sighed.

"I'm up, Petro," Ren replied, stifling another yawn.

She rolled up her sleeping bag, and Petro scurried after her as she turned it back in. Then, they headed to the cafeteria, and fortunately it wasn't as full as it had been the night before. Ren realized as she took a small, pre-packaged bowl of cereal that Petro had woken her up early on purpose.

When they sat down, Ren groggily ate her cereal, still a bit tired, and let Petro steal a bit of it. The Pikachu then scampered over to the trash can when the bowl was nearly empty, eating the last of it before trashing the bowl. 

Ren followed him towards the lobby again, and grinned as she slid open the Pokémon Center's front door. It was a bit warmer than it had been the previous day, and she wanted to look around a bit before she tried to find the gym.

"Pika?"

Petro had been following along, looking somewhat bored, but he suddenly looked curious. As they rounded a corner, a two-story stone building with tall arches came into view. Ren started walking a bit faster, and soon, she saw a sign reading "Pewter Museum of Science."

"Wanna check it out, Petro?" Ren asked hopefully.

"Chu," Petro admitted, nodding.

Ren pushed open the heavy door, and when she and Petro walked in, they were standing in a long, stone hallway with a red carpet. A bit further down, the hallway turned to the left, and a pair of security guards was sitting behind a counter.

"A child's ticket?" the male asked.

"Um… Yeah," Ren replied.

"That'll be ten Poké, please," the woman smiled.

Ren fished around in her pocket for a few bills and then set them on the counter. The female guard opened a small lock box and put in the money, and smiled at Ren again.

"Have a good time, please!"

"Thanks!" Ren grinned.

Petro followed Ren around another turn into a large room with several display cases. As they got closer, the displays looked mainly like fossilized Pokémon.

The first case contained what looked like a circular, somewhat spiky Pokémon. A picture next to the case displayed a Pokémon with a large, spiked shell and tentacles, labeled "Omastar." Ren cocked her head to the side; if she looked at it long enough, it almost looked cute, in a spiky way.

Next to the Omastar display was a significantly larger case containing the skeleton of a dragon-like Pokémon with large wings and jaws. Ren gulped as she looked at the picture. It showed a large, gray flying Pokémon called Aerodactyl, and Ren was glad she was just looking at a picture instead of the real thing. The picture of it looked vicious.

At the end of the room, the last case contained a Pokémon skeleton with large blades that sort of resembled a wingless Scyther. This case's picture showed a large, brown Pokémon raising its scythes predatorily, and its tag read "Kabutops."

"I like Omastar the best! But I like Kabutops too. What about you, Petro?"

"Pika?" Petro shrugged, and then eventually pointed at Aerodactyl.

Ren gulped, and then noticed the stairway nearby. She scurried up the stairs, trying not to look back at the Aerodactyl display. Fortunately, Petro seemed more interested in finding out what was upstairs as well, and followed her up.

When they arrived on the landing, a sign next to them read: "Exhibit of the month: Outer Space." The room was divided in half by a small partition, and each side had a large display case. Ren paused, and then headed to the right side.

A model space ship was held in the case, and a picture of the actual ship was posted next to it. The caption read, "A scale model of the ship that first landed on the moon." Ren grinned, but Petro looked bored, so she sighed and headed over to the other side of the room.

The other case held a set of jet black rocks and rock fragments, carefully arranged on a soft-looking cushion. Its sign read, "Moon Stone—believed to have fallen to Mt. Moon from outer space."

"A Moon Stone? None of them look like moons," Ren observed.

"Well, it did fall from the moon."

Ren jumped when she heard the unfamiliar voice. A tall, tanned boy with messy brown hair and wearing hiker-styled clothing grinned as he pointed back at the display case.

"We just excavated those a couple weeks ago for the display."

"O-oh," Ren mumbled, embarrassed, as her heart rate returned to normal. Petro seemed to be getting a giggle at her expense, and Ren blushed as she asked, "Y-you helped excavate this?"

"Yeah. Actually, I do a lot of excavating, but this time, I was just overseeing the progress. I just came up here now to check on the display, and—oh, I'm sorry, I got a bit carried away. That can happen when I get started on my excavations… My name's Brock."

"I'm Ren," she introduced slowly.

"Nice to meet you," Brock grinned. "Actually, I'm the Gym Leader too. I see you're a trainer too."

He glanced over at Petro, and the Pikachu puffed himself up slightly and smirked. Ren sighed, wondering if Petro's win against Butterfree had made him even more confident.

"Um, yeah. I have two Nidorans, too."

"Really?" Brock looked thoughtful. "I'm partial to Rock- and Ground-types. Your Pikachu probably wouldn't do so well on them. Well, it's not good for me to leave the gym unattended like this. I hope you'll swing by later."

Ren watched silently as Brock headed towards the staircase and left. Petro glared, his cheeks sparking slightly. Ren laughed nervously.

"H-he's right, Petro. But, I wonder what I should do instead?"

"Pika!"

Petro waved his arms agitatedly, and Ren blinked.

"You want me to go _now_?"

"Pi!"

"But I…"

"Chu!"

Ren gulped as Petro's cheeks started sparking again. Nervously, she hurried back to the staircase as well, Petro close behind.

"Okay! Okay!"

When Ren came close to the museum's front doors, the nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach grew as she thought about the upcoming battle…


	8. Chapter Seven: Vs Onix!

_Author's Notes_: Heh. Geodude is really pitiful, ne? And Nidorans really are useful for fighting Brock, as are Mankeys… But this chapter ended up on the short side.

**Chapter Seven: Vs Onix!**

"Pika!"

Petro scampered behind Ren as they left the Science Museum and suddenly grabbed onto her leg. Surprised, Ren looked down at the Pikachu and blinked.

Ren followed the direction Petro was pointing in with her eyes, and saw a large stone structure not far away. It was shaped like a boulder or small cave, and several small rocks lay around it. Gulping, Ren assumed it was the gym and tentatively walked towards it.

Sure enough, an inscription near the entrance read "Pewter City Gym." Thankfully, the building (if it could even be called that) at least had a door, even if it was stone too. Ren pushed it open, almost out of breath by the time she was done.

The inside had a round, rocky arena with small stone platforms for the battlers. Cave lights were strung around the wall, giving off a rather dim light. Ren gulped; she didn't like the dark, and it didn't help that there were rocks and other objects strewn all over the place…

"You're here! Great!"

Ren jumped when she heard Brock's voice, and Petro rolled his eyes. The Gym Leader had apparently been sitting on the other side of the gym, where the lights were a bit darker, and he was dusting himself off as he walked over to Ren.

"Y-yeah," Ren stammered. "Um…"

"Hey, it's all right. Would you like a two-on-two? I could let you use your Pikachu, too, but…"

Petro growled as Brock trailed off. Ren looked sheepishly at the Electric-type, and shook her head at Brock.

"I think I might be okay with two."

"Okay, then. Let's get started!"

Brock grinned as he and Ren walked over to the arena. Ren nervously tapped her foot on the ground as Brock took a Pokéball off of his belt.

"Go, Geodude!" he called.

A small, rock-like Pokémon appeared before Brock, stretching its arms as it yawned. Ren slowly reached for Regina's Pokéball.

"Um, go, Regina!"

The Nidoran materialized next to Ren, examining Geodude. She then looked up at Ren curiously. Ren gulped again, but nodded at Regina.

"Try Double Kick!"

"Use Tackle, Geodude."

Geodude curled itself into a ball and hurtled through the air at Regina. When it got close enough, however, Regina flipped around and kicked it once, causing it to crash to the ground. She then kicked it a second time, sending it skidding back towards Brock.

The Rock-type managed to pull itself up slowly, and tried to crash into Regina again. Once again, Regina flipped around and kicked it. This time, though, only one kick sent it sailing backwards. Geodude fell to the ground in front of Brock, fainted.

"Hey, not bad," Brock commented as he withdrew Geodude. "Now try Onix on for size!"

Brock took out his second Pokéball, and Ren gasped when he released the Pokémon. Brock's Onix was even larger than most were, and it had to coil itself slightly just to fit in the room. The horn on its head grazed the ceiling, and its shadow covered most of the floor.

"Uh…" Ren stammered. "Regina, try another Double Kick…"

"Ni?"

Regina looked confusedly up at Ren, and then Onix, but eventually ran forward anyway. She looked even tinier compared to Onix, and even with both strikes of Double Kick, she didn't seem to have done much damage. Onix looked down when she kicked it, but didn't wince.

"Onix, use Slam!"

Onix crashed forward, lowering itself toward Regina. The Poison-type tried to scurry backwards, but didn't make it. Onix collided with her side as it hit the ground, causing a huge crash. Despite the fact that Regina had almost managed to dodge, she was still thrown backwards from the strike, and flew into the wall. She tumbled down to the floor weakly.

"Regina!" Ren cried.

"Ran…"

Regina panted, and Ren sighed sadly as she withdrew her. Onix slowly pulled itself back up, and Ren watched it, wondering what she could do to beat it. Neither Petro nor Rex would probably do much damage…

"Pika!"

Petro jumped up and down eagerly, looking at Ren. However, Ren shook her head.

"No, Petro, I'm going to use Rex!"

"Chu…" Petro growled, but sighed and folded his arms.

Ren carefully took Rex's Pokéball out of her pocket and released him. The Nidoran blinked at Onix, and then looked suspiciously at Ren. His eyes practically said, "You want me to fight _that_?"

"Um… Let's try Horn Attack, Rex!"

"Rock Throw, Onix."

Onix narrowed its eyes, and boulders formed around it. As it hurled the rocks towards Rex, the Nidoran darted around each one, smirking proudly. Rex then lowered his head and tried to jab his horn at Onix. While he ended up bouncing backwards, a tiny chip appeared on the part of Onix's rocky body that he'd collided with. The Rock-Type roared, glaring at Rex.

"All right! Now use Horn Drill!"

Rex darted towards Onix again, head lowered. When he reached it, he aimed at the chip he'd formed, and rammed his horn forward again. Rex turned his head sharply, causing his horn to twirl slightly, and then backed away quickly.

A small hole appeared on Onix's body, and the Rock-Type swayed slightly as it roared again. It then toppled over, causing another crash.

"I… I underestimated you, didn't I? That's why I lost…"

Brock sighed apologetically as he withdrew Onix. He took an octagonal badge out of his pocket, and handed it to Ren as she withdrew Rex.

"Here. You've earned a Boulder Badge," he explained.

"Yay! Look, Petro!"

Ren showed the badge to Petro, but the mouse Pokémon rolled his eyes. He obviously didn't care very much as he hadn't gotten to battle. Brock and Ren both laughed.

"That's certainly a Pikachu with a lot of personality."

"Yeah! But he's usually okay."

"Chu," Petro sighed.

"Well, good luck, Ren! The next gym is in Cerulean City, in case you were wondering," Brock started. "That's east from here, but it's a bit far. Your Pikachu could probably do well there."

"Thanks, Brock!"

Ren grinned, and she and Brock waved to each other as she headed to the door. Petro sighed again as he scurried after her, and as Ren slowly pushed the door open, he perked up as he darted outside.

"Ah! Wait for me, Petro!"

Petro giggled, still darting forward and watching Ren dash after him.


	9. Chapter Eight: Vs Jigglypuff!

_Author's Note_: Ahaha… Evil Jigglypuffs are so awesome, aren't they? Plus, the Jigglypuff in the Kanto Anime was one of my favorite characters back in the day. Although the chapter ended up pretty short.

**Chapter Eight: Vs Jigglypuff!**

"So, the next place we go is Cerulean!"

"…Chu."

Ren and Petro had just left the Pokémon Center after the fight with Brock. Now that Rex and Regina were healed, Ren was trying to remember which way to go from Pewter to get to Cerulean.

"Oh yeah! We have to go through Mt. Moon first." Ren snapped her fingers. "Let's go, Petro!"

"Pika…"

Petro still seemed bored, Ren realized, but at least he wasn't being obstinate for once. She grinned as they wove around Pewter's perfect stone blocks of sidewalks. True, Ren was a bit nervous about going through a cave, but she was excited about getting to Cerulean City, too.

Soon, she and Petro reached a narrower path that had a few trees growing around it. A few steps later, they were in a slightly rocky area with weedy grass, signifying that they were out of Pewter. In the distance, steep hills blocked Ren's line of sight, and when she squinted, she could see some kind of entrance in a significantly taller mountain.

"I guess that's Mt. Moon!"

"Pika…" Petro yawned again. However, he then cocked his head to the side, blinking. "Pika!"

"Wh-what is it, Petro?" Ren asked.

"Chu!"

Petro darted towards a nearby patch of grass, and Ren chased after him. When she caught up, panting slightly, she saw a small piece of pink amidst the green, and Petro had a strange look on his face. He almost looked dizzy, but he was grinning.

Before Ren could say anything else, the pink object rolled over and slowly stood up. A small pair of ears could be seen poking out of the grass, and when it parted, a round, pink Pokémon with huge eyes was blinking sleepily at them.

"Jiggly?" it asked.

"Chu!"

Petro was still grinning oddly, and his cheeks looked a bit redder than usual. Ren shook her head, and looked more closely at the other Pokémon. She curiously took out her Pokédex and hit the large "identify" button on the corner.

"Jigglypuff, the Balloon Pokémon," the dex beeped. "When its huge eyes waver, it sings a mysteriously soothing melody that lulls its enemies to sleep."

"Aw," Ren said as she put her Pokédex back in her pocket. "It's really cute! Let's catch it, Petro!"

"Pika?"

Petro had an extremely mortified look on his face for once, as if to say "Don't hurt it!" Ren giggled slightly as she took out a Pokéball.

"Okay, I'll just throw a Pokéball then!"

As Ren tossed the Pokéball, the Jigglypuff blinked again. It then smacked the ball away with one of its small arms. Frowning, Jigglypuff seemed to expand, and it glared.

"Ah! What should we do?" Ren panicked.

"Puff…" Jigglypuff deflated slightly, and its eyes widened. Then it took a deep breath and started to sing. "Jiggly… Jigglypuff… Jiggly…"

Ren felt her eyelids droop, and Petro toppled over, snoring lightly. Jigglypuff continued to sing, its voice getting softer like a lullaby, and Ren felt herself sway a bit. Soon she fell over near Petro, sound asleep…

- - -

"Pika!"

A light shock to the hand woke Ren up. Blinking, she sat up and saw Petro glaring at her. When she looked around, however, the one thing that was missing was Jigglypuff.

"Hey, where'd Jigglypuff go?" she cried.

"Pi," Petro sighed, slouching slightly.

"I guess it ran away," Ren commented. "Oh well… Hey, Petro, look! We're almost to Mt. Moon now!"

The cave loomed nearby, looking even larger now that they were closer to it. Petro sighed again, not looking interested.

"Come on, Petro! We might see something else you like!"

Reluctantly, Petro straightened himself up, and darted after his trainer towards the mountain…


	10. Chapter Nine: Vs Ekans!

_Author's Notes_: Uh, yeah, this chapter's a bit longer to make up for how short the last one was. Anyway, Team Rocket shows up and Brock's back. Yay.

**Chapter Nine: Vs Ekans!**

"Look, Pet—achoo!"

Ren sneezed as she and Petro arrived at the entrance to Mt. Moon. Petro rolled his eyes, but peeked inside curiously and scampered in. Sighing, Ren quickly ducked in as well. She never did well in cold places, and while Mt. Moon wasn't really all that cold, it _was_ a bit chilly…

"Chu," Petro sighed.

Petro darted a few feet ahead of Ren, and she quickly followed after him, trying not to lose track of the Electric-Type. The ground sloped forward slightly, and the small entrance tunnel seemed to get narrower as they walked. Soon, they arrived at a fork in the tunnel.

"N-now what?"

Ren carefully peered to the left, seeing a large chamber with stalactites and dripping water. A few Geodudes were scattered along the floor, half-buried in the dirt and presumably sleeping.

Then, Ren looked to the right. The tunnel continued winding, and even though there were no Geodudes lying on the path, Ren gulped anyway, getting an ominous feeling. She tentatively took a few steps forward, and Petro sighed, dashing ahead of her once again.

"Petro, wait up!"

Ren panted slightly as she tried to catch up to Petro. Fortunately, while they had to follow a few turns, at least it wasn't hard to keep track of the mouse Pokémon. Eventually, Petro skidded to a halt in another large chamber, and Ren stumbled to a stop after him.

"What is it… Petro?" Ren gasped, trying to catch her breath.

"Pika!"

Petro waved one arm as he pointed forward. In a small alcove not far away, a young man in hiker clothing was kneeling on the cave floor, a pick in his hand. A lamp-lit hard hat mostly covered his messy brown hair, and he didn't seem to have noticed Ren and Petro. Next to him, a Geodude was patiently holding a small dusting brush.

"Brock?" Ren asked.

A bit surprised, the Gym Leader looked up, but then grinned when he recognized Ren. He beckoned her over, and she and Petro approached him.

"Hey, Ren! I'm guessing you're on your way to Cerulean?" Brock greeted.

"Uh, yeah," Ren answered. "So… um, are you excavating or something?"

"Uh huh. Lately, we've been digging up several other fossils besides just the ones we have on display, so I wanted to check back," he explained. Then he looked over at Geodude and chuckled. "Geodude here helps out sometimes."

"Geo!"

The Rock-Type waved the duster around in indication, and Ren giggled. Petro, however, merely rolled his eyes. Brock laughed as well as he carefully struck down with his pick, but then his eyes widened as he was met with a dull clinking noise.

"Hey, I think I've got something! Geodude, can I see that brush?"

"Dude."

Geodude obligingly handed Brock the brush, and he proceeded to brush a bit more of the dirt away. Eventually he was able to gently pull the object out of the loose soil, and as Brock set the object in front of him, he dusted it off a bit more. He eventually revealed a round, dome-shaped object, and grinned proudly.

"It looks like a Kabuto fossil," he said to Ren. "We've got a fossil of its supposed evolved form, Kabutops, over in the museum, remember?"

"Oh, yeah!" Ren remembered. "It was… pretty cool looking."

"I bet it would fetch a fortune if you sold it."

Ren, Brock, and the two Pokémon looked around in confusion as an unfamiliar voice echoed through the chamber. Petro suddenly pointed towards the ceiling, just as a tall brunette woman dropped down, a rope tied around her waist.

"Too easy," she grumbled, dusting herself off and untying the rope. "Earl! Come down here. Now!"

"Oof!"

Seconds later, a blonde man tumbled to the ground after her, unfortunately landing on his side. The woman pulled him up, grumbling as she untied the rope around his waist. Like the woman, he was wearing a black uniform with gray boots, and a red R was displayed on the shirt.

"This is stupid. Why do I always get paired up with you?"

"Ray!" Earl wailed. "I'm sorry! Can we just steal the fossil now?"

"You dolt! You're not supposed to say that!"

Ray pulled her fist back, but then sighed and dropped it to her side. Brock and Ren blinked, sharing a look as Ray turned to face them. She put a hand on her hip and pointed to Brock's fossil.

"Okay, now that the idiot over there not-so-subtly revealed what we want, can we perchance borrow that fossil?"

"…I think your definition of borrow is a bit off," Brock responded, quirking an eyebrow. "Didn't you say something about selling?"

"Hmph. All I do is take orders. My boss needs cash and says there are valuables here," Ray said smugly, folding her arms over her chest. "Now be a good boy and hand that over."

"Or what?"

"Or this!"

Ray pulled a Pokéball off of her uniform's gray belt, releasing a purple, snake-like Pokémon that hissed immediately. Scrambling to his feet, Earl clumsily followed suit, releasing a floating, toxic-looking Pokémon. Sighing, Brock rubbed his temples as he grabbed his Onix's Pokéball.

"Come on, Ren! We might be able to distract them."

"Okay, Petro! Let's go!"

As Brock released his Onix, Petro eagerly hopped in front of Ren. Ray laughed as she looked at the two Pokémon.

"How pathetic. I was just going to wrap you up in a nice little package with Ekans here, but I guess I can defeat your Pokémon too. Shouldn't take much longer. Ekans, use Sludge Bomb!"

"You too, Koffing!"

Ekans and Koffing launched the attacks, combining them as they shot towards Petro. Ren's eyes widened as Petro growled.

"Petro, use Thundershock!"

"Chu!"

Petro quickly released electricity from his cheeks, striking the Sludge Bomb combination. Fortunately, he managed to knock the attack away and send it crashing onto the cave floor, but just barely.

"Onix, use Dig," Brock called.

Onix roared as it barreled towards the ground. It tunneled under, and Ekans and Koffing looked around, confused. Ray, however, rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Just keep going for the rat!"

"Chu?" Petro growled again at the mention of the word _rat_.

"It's o-okay, Petro, just use Th—"

However, at that moment, Onix burst out of the cave floor right behind Ekans and Koffing. It rammed into the two surprised Poison-Types, sending them crashing into the floor. Then, Brock motioned to Geodude, who had been sitting protectively in front of the fossil the whole time.

"Okay, Geodude, take the fossil and run now that they're weak!"

"Geo!"

Geodude nodded, grabbing the fossil and lifting it above its body slightly to balance. As it started to float away, Ray scowled.

"No! Ekans, use Wrap to grab it! _Now_!"

"Onix, use Rock Throw!"

The Rock-Type quickly hurled several boulders towards Ray and Earl, effectively trapping them on the other side of the chamber. Brock sighed in relief and grinned at Ren as he withdrew Onix.

"Hey, thanks for helping out."

"Um, you're welcome," Ren grinned back, a bit embarrassedly.

"Pika…" Petro rolled his eyes.

Ren giggled slightly. "You too, Petro. But, uh, now that we can't go that way… Which way is out of the cave?"

"Oh?" Brock tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Don't worry, the direction Onix just blocked off leads to a few dead-ends. The quickest way out of here would be… Take the tunnel there in the back of this chamber, and just keep taking the right turns."

"Thanks, Brock!"

"You're welcome. See you, Ren!"

"Bye!"

Ren and Petro waved as they started walking towards the tunnel Brock had indicated. The Gym Leader waved back and turned back towards the area he'd been digging in. Smiling, Ren looked down at Petro, and he smirked back, darting on ahead of her again.

"No, Petro, wait!"

Petro laughed as Ren tried to keep up with him…


	11. Chapter Ten: Vs Bulbasaur!

_Author's Note_: Crazy Bulbasaur just seemed like a good idea. This turned out a bit shorter than I wanted though. Eh…

**Chapter Ten: Vs Bulbasaur!**

"Pika!"

Petro practically laughed over his shoulder as he looked back at Ren. The girl was panting as she followed the Electric-type out of the steadily narrowing tunnel into daylight. Fortunately, Brock's directions had been plenty accurate, but it had still taken quite a while to get through Mt. Moon's winding passages.

"Petro…" Ren gasped. "Please… wait…"

"Chu…"

Petro reluctantly paused and waited for Ren to catch up. However, he then cocked his head to the side, blinking, and darted away again.

"What now…?"

Ren slowly jogged after the Pikachu. Several moments later, the pair stopped in front of a small building that Ren hadn't noticed before—but then again, there was a row of trees growing near it.

"_Route 4 Flower Shop_?" Ren said curiously as she read the sign. "Let's go in, Petro!"

"Ka…" Petro sighed.

Ren turned the doorknob and slowly opened the wooden door. As she and Petro entered the building, Ren saw several tables lined with potted flowers and other plants. There weren't any other customers at the moment, and the woman behind the small counter grinned in relief when she spotted Ren.

"Ah, good afternoon! Would you like anything?"

"Um… I guess I'm just… looking around for now," Ren explained nervously.

"All right! Please, tell me if you need anything!"

Ren nodded and started walking around the tables, and Petro sighed again as he scampered after her. There were several small flowers that she kind of liked, but she wasn't sure how she'd be able to get them back home easily…

"Saur!"

Suddenly, Ren accidentally stepped on something, and a voice cried out in objection. Ren gasped and took a step back, looking down to see a small, blue-green Pokémon with a bulb on its back. She glared back at Ren as she slowly got up, a pair of vines slowly rising out of her bulb.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

"What's wrong?"

The cashier hurried over to Ren, and sighed as she saw Bulbasaur. The plant Pokémon glared again, but retracted her vines.

"I'm sorry about Bulbasaur," the woman apologized. "She's kind of hasty, so if you startle her, she'll just attack like that."

"Oh. I see."

"Pi—ka!"

Petro, meanwhile, hadn't seemed to have forgiven the Grass-Type. His cheeks were sparking, and he was clenching his fists. Bulbasaur, however, merely yawned at him, apparently further provoking Petro. The Electric-Type released the electricity in his cheeks, hitting Bulbasaur with a Thundershock. Ren and the cashier gasped as Bulbasaur stumbled backwards slightly.

"Petro, no!"

"Chu!"

Petro narrowed his eyes and shook his head as Bulbasaur got back up. A pair of vines emerged from Bulbasaur's bulb again, and she struck Petro with a Vine Whip. Tumbling backwards, Petro rolled over and raised his head just enough to see Bulbasaur, and shot out another Thundershock. As Petro hopped back to his feet, Bulbasaur fell to the side, sweat forming on her forehead.

"Why are they fighting?" Ren cried.

"I'm not sure… But I have an idea!" the cashier replied, snapping her fingers. "Do you have a spare Pokéball on you?"

"Y-yeah… Oh! I get it!"

Ren pulled a minimized Pokéball out of her pocket and tossed it at the weakened Grass-Type. The ball shook violently for a few seconds, but then clicked shut. Ren, Petro, and the cashier all sighed in relief.

"But… She's your Bulbasaur, right? So why could I catch her?" Ren asked, confused, as she pocketed Bulbasaur's Pokéball.

"Well… Actually, I never technically caught her," the cashier explained. "One of my friends has a Venusaur that just laid a few eggs recently, and she gave me one of the Bulbasaurs. That one preferred to wander around in here, see, but… Like you, some of the other customers had problems with her. I was thinking maybe if she got to get out and travel a bit, she might calm down. Can you take her?"

"Sure!" Ren grinned.

Petro, however, sighed and closed his eyes. Ren and the cashier giggled.

"Well, thanks. I'm glad you came in!"

"You're welcome! I have to get going though… Bye!"

Smiling, the cashier waved to Ren as she opened the door again. Petro growled under his breath as he followed her outside, and Ren managed to stop another giggle. Petro and Bulbasaur would hopefully get along sooner or later.

"Hey, Petro? What do think of calling her Venus?"

"…Chu?"

"Well, um… Like a Venus Flytrap, you know…?"

Petro suddenly smirked and nodded. "Pika!"

"Wait… What do those do again?"

Petro suddenly started giggling himself and darted along the path in front of the flower shop. Blinking, Ren hurried after him, hoping he was at least going in the right way to Cerulean…

"No, Petro! Not again…!"


	12. Chapter Eleven: Vs Staryu!

_Author's Note_: Cerulean City time! (cough) Anyway. I'm going to go out on a limb here and totally screw up the gym… Sort of. Actually, it's more like mixing the anime and game versions of it.

**Chapter Eleven: Vs Staryu!**

"Wow, Petro! This place is huge!"

After leaving the flower shop, Ren had chased Petro over the flower-lined path, and the pair had just crossed a small bridge over a narrow stream. The stream bordered Cerulean City in a generally square perimeter, but there were places where it curved or made other corners. Most of the buildings Ren could see were at least two stories tall and had blue-tinted windows, and several of them had waves painted on them.

"Chu."

Petro crossed his arms, clearly not impressed, as he followed Ren across the paved sidewalk. Ren sighed at Petro's lack of enthusiasm.

"Aw, but this place looks cool… Oh well," Ren said, slightly disheartened. "I guess we should find the Pokémon Center."

"Pika."

Petro rolled his eyes as he rubbed the side of his face. He was still a bit sore about getting attacked by Venus, and had very clearly let Ren know so on the way to Cerulean. The Bulbasaur probably needed healing, too…

Eventually, after taking several turns, Ren and Petro arrived at a usual red-roofed Pokémon Center. They approached the counter in the back, and the nurse smiled as she looked up.

"Can I help you, miss?"

"Um, yeah," Ren smiled nervously. "I… need my Pokémon healed."

She handed the pink-haired woman her three Pokéballs. Then, Petro jumped up on the counter as well. The nurse looked startled, but grinned again.

"All right. I'll page you when they're ready…?"

"Oh, uh, R-Ren Mason," she stammered.

"Okay, Ren. I probably won't be too long!"

Ren watched silently as the nurse opened the small door behind her, taking the Pokémon to a back room. A couple of Chanseys could be seen, tending to a few Pokémon on cots. Shaking her head suddenly, Ren realized she was hungry, and started looking for the cafeteria. Following the directional signs, she eventually reached the cafeteria, and the lunch line was fortunately short.

As Ren sat down with her bowl of rice, she sighed. It felt odd to be eating without Petro, even though he usually ended up stealing her food. Ren ate quickly, and as she got up to throw the plastic bowl away, the intercom beeped.

"Ren Mason, Chris Gold, and Brandon Ruby, your Pokémon are waiting at the counter. Ren Mason, Chris…"

Ren grinned and hurried back to the lobby. A pair of black-haired boys nodded politely to each other as they reached the counter, and the nurse handed them their Pokéballs. A few seconds later, Ren reached the counter as well. As the nurse smiled and handed Ren her Pokéballs, Petro scampered over the counter too.

"Pika!" he said, looking relieved, and Ren giggled.

"Good afternoon," the nurse added politely, and Ren smiled back as the woman hurried back to the back room.

Putting her minimized Pokéballs into her pocket, Ren wasn't looking up as she turned around. Unfortunately, this caused her to crash into someone as she looked up, and Petro shouted "Chu!" in surprise.

"I'm sorry!" Ren cried as she scrambled up.

"Ah, it's all right. I wasn't paying attention either."

A red-haired girl wearing a pair of denim shorts and a bikini top scratched the back of her neck sheepishly as she apologized. Ren grinned in relief; at least she didn't look angry.

"Well, um…" Ren started.

"Oh! I'm Misty, by the way," the girl introduced, and then looked over at Petro. "I'm guessing you're a trainer?"

"Yep! I'm Ren, and this is Petro."

"Ka," Petro yawned.

Misty laughed slightly. "I was just picking up my Pokémon a few minutes ago, too. Anyway, are you new around here? I don't think I've seen you before."

"I, uh… just got here, actually…"

"I thought so. Hey, you want me to show you to the gym, then?"

"Well…" Ren looked over at Petro. "Do you want to try already?"

"Chu!" Petro grinned and nodded.

"Okay!"

Misty grinned back. "Great! It's pretty close to here."

Ren followed Misty back to the sliding glass doors. As the redhead slid the doors open, she looked over her shoulder at the shorter girl.

"So, what other Pokémon do you have?"

"Um… I have two Nidorans, and a Bulbasaur," Ren replied. "But I just got Venus…"

"Well, I have a Staryu and a Starmie. They go swimming with me a lot, actually."

"That sounds cool! Petro, let's go swimming later!"

Misty laughed again as Petro's eyes widened. The Pikachu's cheeks then began to spark, and he glared at Ren.

"Oh, um, sorry, Petro," Ren apologized.

"There's a pool right next to the gym, too… Oh, here we are."

The trio stopped in front of a large, tinted-glass building with black supports. There was a large in-ground pool inside with a diving board and a set of bleachers. Several people were already swimming inside, and Ren blinked.

"This is the gym?"

"Oh, no. It's right there, see? I told you there was the pool right here."

Ren tiptoed forward, peering around the pool building. A large blue concrete building with equally blue windows was indeed on the other side of the pool, and Ren sighed.

"Uh… right."

Misty giggled, but not meanly. "Let's go in, then."

She leaned slightly into the door as she opened it, and Ren followed her inside. A large aquarium covered the back wall, and there was another in-ground pool in the middle of the room. Four planks crossed the pool, one near each edge.

"Um… Why is there a pool here if there's one next door?" Ren asked.

"Y'see… Sometimes, we do water shows, but not all that often," Misty replied thoughtfully, putting one hand on her hip. "It's actually because it's better for Staryu and Starmie to be in the water when we fight. Ready?"

"Huh? Petro! Is she the Gym Leader?"

"Chu," Petro answered, shrugging in a "Don't ask me!" way.

"Yep!" Misty grinned. "Sorry, but I like to confuse out-of-towners sometimes."

"Oh," Ren sighed. "Okay. I guess I'm ready…"

"Great! Here, go stand on the plank on the back of the pool, okay?"

Ren carefully walked over the wet floor to the back plank, but Petro dashed ahead of her. Meanwhile, Misty stood on the front plank, looking confident and taking out one of her Pokéballs.

"We'll do a two-on-two!" Misty explained. "I'll start with Staryu!"

Pressing the button on her Pokéball, Misty released a small, brown, star-shaped Pokémon. The red jewel in its center flashed as it landed in the water, half-submerged. Ren gulped, and then looked at Petro.

"Er… I guess I'll start with Petro."

"Pi!"

Petro eagerly jumped in front of Ren, striking a victory pose. Staryu, however, simply remained in the same place in the pool, looking calm.

"Let's try a Thundershock, Petro!"

"Ha! Rapid Spin and Whirlpool, Staryu!"

Petro shot electricity out of his cheeks and towards Staryu. Suddenly, the star Pokémon flattened itself on top of the water, and then spun upwards to dodge the attack right before it would have hit. It then spun back downwards into the water, forming a small whirlpool.

The vortex swept towards Petro, catching the surprised Pikachu. Moments later, he spun upwards, flying into the air.

"Ah! Petro!" Ren cried. Then, she had an idea. "Try Slam!"

Petro tried to shift midair, and amazingly looked like he was going to slam into Staryu. However, Staryu simply twirled itself to the side, and Petro crashed into the pool.

"All right, Staryu, finish with Bubblebeam!"

Just as Petro managed to surface, Staryu blasted a stream of large bubbles out of its core. They struck Petro, sending him crashing into the plank next to Ren's feet. He tried to get up and glare at Staryu, cheeks sparking slightly, but then he wobbled and fell over.

"P-Petro…" Ren stammered. "Just stay down… I'll try Venus…"

"Pika!" Petro protested, trying to get up, but flopping over again.

Ren sighed as she reached for Venus's Pokéball. Misty had seemed really nice before, but she was really competitive, too. The blonde hoped a type advantage would work this time.

"Bulba," Venus said disinterestedly as Ren released her.

"Um, Venus, can you try a Vine Whip, please?"

"Saur."

Venus suddenly perked up upon seeing Staryu. She instantly raised a pair of vines out of her bulb, and tried to hit Staryu. The Water-Type managed to dodge the first vine, but Venus successfully struck with the second. Staryu crashed back into the pool, but quickly got back up.

"Hm… I guess we better go with Ice Beam, Staryu."

Staryu's jewel suddenly shined brightly, and a thin ray of ice shot out of it. Venus was soon covered from her feet to her bulb in ice.

"…Bulba," Venus groaned, her eye twitching.

"H-Huh?" Ren gasped. "Can Venus even still attack?"

"Bul." Venus rolled her eyes as if to say, "Obviously not."

"Oh… Sorry, Venus…"

Ren slowly reached for Venus's Pokéball and withdrew the Grass-Type, and then carefully picked up Petro. Misty recalled Staryu as well, and grinned as Ren crossed the planks to the other side of the pool.

"Hey, that was pretty fun," Misty commented. "You can always try again, you know!"

"Yeah," Ren nodded. "I think I'll come back tomorrow."

"Good! See you later, then!"

Misty's grin widened, and Ren smiled tentatively as she waved. Turning towards the door, she felt Petro twitch at the thought of being carried, and she giggled as he settled down. Maybe being beaten in a fight made him cooperate, Ren thought, opening the door…


	13. Chapter Twelve: Vs Starmie!

_Author's Notes_: Yay, Misty again. That darn Starmie…

**Chapter Twelve: Vs Starmie!**

Ren sighed as she sat down in the Pokémon Center's cafeteria for dinner. She'd just dropped her Pokémon off again, and fortunately, there had been an intern at the counter instead of the normal nurse. Admittedly, Ren had been nervous thinking about what the nurse might say for two healings in one day.

Quickly, Ren opened the pre-packaged sandwich and started eating. However, as she ate, she sighed as she started thinking about her battle with Misty. Sure, she hadn't had a whole lot of battles yet, but even she knew that a type advantage should have helped her win.

"Maybe I'll try Rex or Regina tomorrow," Ren commented quietly to herself. "I wonder what else Misty has."

With that, Ren swallowed the rest of her sandwich and stood up to throw away her wrapper. She returned to the lobby and curled up on one of the couches, reaching for a nearby Pokémon Journal and waiting for her Pokémon…

- - -

"Pi—ka!"

Ren realized she'd fallen asleep again when she felt Petro tap her shoulder. Blinking as she opened her eyes, she saw the Pikachu trying to balance all three of Ren's Pokéballs on his head as he woke her up.

"Ah, Petro, don't do that, please!"

Ren anxiously grabbed Rex, Regina, and Venus's Pokéballs, and Petro grinned. As Ren stood up, Petro scampered on ahead of her towards the common room. She had to walk a bit quickly to keep up, but she was already tired anyway and glad that Petro apparently wanted to rest for once.

Arriving in the common room, Ren took one of the sleeping bags and rolled it out in the back of the room. Fortunately, there weren't a whole lot of other people there yet, but it was fairly early. Ren smiled slightly as she crawled into the sleeping bag and Petro curled up next to her, her eyelids starting to droop…

- - -

"Chu…"

Once again, the next morning Ren woke up to Petro poking her. It was still a little dark outside, and most of the trainers in the room were asleep. Ren yawned as she sat up, and gasped as she looked at Petro. The Pikachu was holding two slices of toast in his mouth and looked rather pleased with himself.

"Petro! Are you sure it's okay to eat in here?"

Petro shrugged, not seeming to care, as he pointed at all the sleeping trainers. He then dropped one of the toast slices on Ren's lap, and started busily eating his own breakfast.

"Okay…" Ren went on timidly.

She slowly picked up her toast and took a few bites of it as she rolled up her sleeping bag. Cautiously, she wiped away the toast crumbs on the bag, and turned it in to the collection box. Petro scampered after her, finishing his toast, as Ren walked into the lobby.

"Pika!" he grinned, following Ren to the door.

"I guess you're excited about re-challenging Misty," Ren sighed. "I hope the gym's open already."

The blonde fortunately remembered the way to the gym pretty well. After following a couple of turns in the path, she and Petro arrived at the concrete building. Ren slowly opened the door and peeked inside.

Misty was climbing out of the pool, her hair out of its normal ponytail and a towel around her shoulders. She looked up as the door creaked open, and she waved at Ren.

"Hey, come on! I didn't think you'd be here this early."

"O-okay. I didn't really think so either… But Petro wanted to hurry."

The Gym Leader laughed as Petro struck a confident pose. She and Ren took the same spots on the planks that they'd had the previous day, and Misty quickly reached for a Pokéball.

"I'll start with Staryu again."

The star Pokémon's jewel glittered as it appeared in the pool. Petro instantly jumped in front of Ren, his cheeks sparking. Ren looked at him a bit uncertainly as she looked over at Staryu again.

"Are you sure, Petro?"

"Chu!" he nodded.

"All right…" Ren gulped.

Misty nodded as she looked at Petro. "Okay, we'll go with Water Gun."

"Um, Quick Attack, Petro!"

A small blast of water shot out of Staryu's jewel, and Petro folded his arms as he watched the attack. Seconds before it would have hit, Petro quickly dodged, jumping into the air and then crashing down onto Staryu. As Petro leapt back to Ren, Staryu sank slightly in surprise.

"Try to recover with Whirlpool!"

Staryu slowly started spinning upwards back to the surface of the pool. Ren swallowed as a small whirlpool started to form, but Petro seemed to have an idea.

A small wave of electricity shot out of Petro's cheeks, and Staryu seemed to numb as the attack hit. It stopped spinning and laid out on the surface of the water. Ren grinned suddenly when she realized Petro had used Thunder Wave.

"Good idea, Petro! Now try Thunderbolt."

Petro eagerly crouched down as his cheeks started sparking again. He then launched a large bolt of electricity at Staryu, and the Water-Type was shot into the air from the impact. When Staryu crashed back into the pool, its jewel blinked and then dimmed, and it stopped moving, obviously fainted.

"Hey, that was pretty clever," Misty commented, withdrawing Staryu. "But you might need something else to take out Starmie…"

The redhead released a larger star-shaped Pokémon, this one slate-blue instead of brown and with a more angular gem. It sat half-floating in the pool, its back star spinning in a motion that reminded Ren of treading water.

"Okay, Starmie, let's lead with Bubblebeam."

"Petro, try Quick Attack again!"

Starmie shot a large stream of bubbles out of its core at Petro. He tried to dodge a second too late, and the attack hit him dead-on. Petro flopped over, but shook himself off as he got back up. His fur stood on end from getting wet, and he glared at the bigger Pokémon.

"Pi… ka!"

Petro immediately launched another Thunderbolt, hitting the surprised Starmie before it had a chance to react. As Starmie flew backwards through the water, Ren wondered if the attack would knock it out. However, Starmie managed to recover at the last second, albeit swimming back forward a bit slowly.

"See? Starmie's pretty tough," Misty commented. "Hey, Starmie, let's try Water Pulse this time!"

Starmie launched a circular wave of water at Petro from its top point. Unfortunately, Petro had apparently used a lot of energy on the two Thunderbolts, and his reaction time was a bit slow again. The water crashed into him, and he flopped over one more time. That time, he didn't get up.

"Petro…" Ren sighed. She then hesitantly reached for a new Pokéball. "Hm… I don't know… Well, Rex did well against Brock…"

Ren slowly release the Nidoran, and he looked confidently at Starmie. The Water-Type seemed to sigh as Rex's ears stiffened.

"Let's go with Water Pulse again!"

"Um, try a Double Kick…"

Starmie tried to launch another Water Pulse at Rex, but he quickly jumped into the air and flipped around. One of his back feet crashed into Starmie, and the other foot hit right afterwards. Skidding through the pool, Starmie crashed into the left plank, and Rex landed on it right behind Starmie.

"Okay! Try Horn Attack," Ren cried, starting to feel a bit surer of herself.

Rex all-too-obligingly lowered his head, ramming his horn into Starmie's back. The star Pokémon skidded through the water again, this time crashing into the plank in front of Misty. It didn't manage to turn back towards Rex, and like Staryu, its jewel dimmed as it fainted.

"That was a pretty good challenge," Misty commented as she withdrew Starmie. "You did a lot better than yesterday."

"Uh, thanks," Ren blushed, withdrawing Rex.

"It's true. Here, you earned a Cascade Badge!"

Ren carefully picked up Petro (he'd fallen asleep after fainting) and walked over the planks as Misty pulled a badge out of her pocket. She handed the water-droplet-shaped badge to Ren, and gave the girl a high five. Smiling, Ren put the badge in her pocket.

"Oh, hey, by the way," Misty started. "There's this cape just northeast of here that has a great view. Bill lives up there, too."

"Er… Bill?" Ren blinked.

"He's known around here for being this obsessive collector. You might be able to get some tips from him on catching Pokémon, if you want."

"That sounds cool! Thanks, Misty."

"Great! See you later, and good luck, Ren."

Ren waved to Misty as she opened the gym's door one-handed. The day was certainly picking up…


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Vs Charmander!

_Author's Notes_: Yay, a new character and a new Pokémon! And remember Gino from all the way back in, like, chapter one? He's back too.

**Chapter Thirteen: Vs Charmander!**

"Krystal Gold, Ren Mason, Jack Red…"

Ren and several other trainers hurried up to the Pokémon Center's front counter to get their Pokémon. A blue-haired girl took a single Pokéball from the attendant, while a dark-haired boy retrieved five. Moments later, Petro hopped over the counter, once again attempting to balance Ren's Pokéballs on his head.

Anxiously, Ren took her Pokéballs from Petro, who was still grinning. The attendant smiled and nodded as the three trainers then turned from the counter. Sighing, Ren headed towards the door, and Petro quickly followed after her.

As Ren slid open the glass door, she suddenly remembered Misty mentioning the cape. She grinned and looked down at Petro as they left the building.

"Hey, Petro. There's this place I, uh, wanna check out… Let's go…?"

"Chu?" Petro cocked his head, frowning.

"Misty told me about it earlier," Ren explained.

"Pika," Petro sighed, but then he nodded.

"Okay!"

Grinning, Ren took a north turn from the Pokémon Center, trying to remember Misty's directions. Fortunately the path was pretty straight from there, and eventually Ren and Petro arrived at another bridge that marked Cerulean's northern border. This one was much longer than the one near Mt. Moon, and the river segment it went over was much wider.

Ren slowly crossed the bridge, but Petro scampered on ahead. The blonde managed to catch up to Petro in a few seconds, and smiled when she stepped off the bridge. Petro then looked ahead of himself again, and his ears twitched.

"Pi… ka?"

Instead of Cerulean City's healthy grass and plants, the area they'd just entered was rocky and had few plants. Somehow, the place also seemed drier, even though they'd just crossed a river.

"But Misty said there was a nice view…" Ren mumbled. "Maybe it gets better soon?"

Ren reluctantly took a few steps forward, and Petro rolled his eyes as he followed her. Soon, they arrived near a turn on the dirt path, but before they could take it, a voice cried out.

"Char!"

A small, orange lizard-like Pokémon stumbled out onto the road near Ren and Petro. It took a few deep breaths, and then tottered forward. Oddly, it almost looked like it had been trying to run from something.

"Mander…" it panted.

"Chu?" Petro blinked.

"Charmander, I—"

Moments later, a tall, skinny boy swaggered around the corner, his long-fingered, red-sleeved hand resting on his hip. His black eyes glared out from under his mess of shaggy black hair, and his other hand tugged at the chain hanging off his red pants. He frowned, and the Fire-Type weakly narrowed its eyes. Ren gasped as Charmander suddenly blasted an Ember at the boy, but he calmly ducked away from the small flame.

"As I was saying," he went on. "I'm getting sick of playing tag with you. Do you follow my drift?"

Charmander gritted its teeth, its tail flame flaring. It obviously disagreed with its trainer, but was too weak to try to attack again.

"Um, uh, please… don't fight…" Ren interrupted timidly, her voice admittedly fading with each word.

"And what do we have here?" the boy asked disinterestedly, giving Ren a brief glance. "Are you saying I'm doing something wrong here?"

"M-maybe," Ren stammered, getting a bit more nervous.

"Pika!"

Petro's cheeks sparked angrily, but the boy merely laughed. He rolled his eyes and took a few more steps towards Charmander, towering over it. However, he looked over his shoulder, surprised, as another voice rang out from behind him.

"Ardeo, don't be lame."

A shorter boy with messy hair rounded the corner, folding him his arms across his black polo shirt. He smirked at Ren, and she gasped.

"G-Gino?"

"Hey, Gino, you know this kid?" Ardeo snorted.

"…Yeah," Gino admitted. "In a way. She lives down my street. But more importantly, why would you be such a loser when there's a much easier way to get rid of Charmander?"

Charmander's eyes widened in protest. Ardeo grinned, though, as he looked at Gino. The brunette simply shrugged, giving a sideways glance to Ren.

"Give it to her."

"What?" Ren blinked.

"You sure you're_just _neighbors? And why would I hand off _my_ Pokémon to some random little girl?"

"You said it." Gino shrugged once again. "The thing doesn't listen to a thing you say, and it's a wimp. You've got three much stronger ones, anyway."

"Charm…" Charmander growled weakly.

"Whatever. He makes a good point. Get back in your ball, Charmander."

Ardeo pulled a black Pokéball off of his belt, recalling Charmander. He somewhat carelessly tossed the ball to Ren, and she gulped as she caught it. The black-haired boy shrugged, turning towards the bride leading back to Cerulean.

"Hmph. Don't get me wrong, girlie. I could've handled that thing if I wanted to. I just know a losing situation when I see one. Don't blame me if this doesn't work out."

Sauntering towards the bridge, Ardeo slouched as he walked away. Rolling his eyes, Gino turned towards Ren, looking a bit exasperated.

"Um, Gino? That was really… n-nice of you," Ren tried.

"Nice?" Gino repeated, snorting. "If I wanted to be nice, I would've had him give you one of his good ones. Besides, getting a wimpy Pokémon kinda suits you."

"G-Gino…"

Ren sniffled as she looked down at Charmander's Pokéball. Petro's cheeks sparked again, and Gino blinked.

"Hey, now! Don't take me too seriously. I gotta hurry along. Hey, maybe if you visit Bill, you'll actually get better, you know? I'm outta here."

The brunette indeed hurried as he started over the bridge as well, slight embarrassment lacing his mostly disgusted voice. Ren sighed, still holding onto Charmander's Pokéball quite tightly. Cocking his head, Petro poked Ren's knee.

"Pika..."

As Ren looked down at the Pikachu, she smiled. "You know, maybe Gino's right. We should go visit Bill! Maybe he _could_ help me. Misty did say he was an expert. And do you think Sol is a good nickname for Charmander?"

"Chu," Petro confirmed, looking relieved. However, he then grinned impishly and lightly shocked Ren's legs before darting ahead of her.

"Petro! Come—ow—back!"

Ren stumbled after the Electric-Type as he dashed around the turn in the path, hoping that they'd arrive at Bill's house soon.


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Vs Clefairy!

_Author's Notes_: Pfft. Clefairy cosplay? Back in Yellow, I thought it'd be like a Rattata or Nidoran or something. And then FR/LG came out with Clefairy, which is a lot funnier.

Plus, this chapter serves the purpose of Pikachu getting shocked by Bill and falling in love with Clefairy. Poor Petro always seems to get beaten up by the Pokémon he likes, though…

**Chapter Fourteen: Vs Clefairy!**

"I… I think this is it, Petro!"

Ren huffed slightly, out of breath, as she slowed to a stop. She and Petro had followed the rest of the pathway after the bridge, and it had only taken a few minutes to reach the cape Misty had mentioned.

Ahead of them, a small cliff overlooked a large pond, and the sunlight glinted off the water. Ren nervously took a few steps forward, careful not to get too close to the edge of the cliff. Petro darted on ahead of her, grinning as he looked over the edge.

"Petro…"

Ren suddenly stepped back a few feet as Petro giggled. As she looked over her shoulder, she blinked.

"Hey, look! There's a cottage over there!"

There was a small, whitewashed house several yards behind them. Curiously, Ren walked over to it, wondering if it belonged to Bill. Petro scampered over as well when Ren knocked on the door.

A muffled voice suddenly cried out from the inside. "Ah, please come in! Hurry!"

Suddenly nervous again, Ren slowly opened the door and peeked in. Amidst all the machinery in the front room, she didn't see a person like she'd expected…

…Instead, a small Clefairy was jumping around near one of the desks, frantically trying to reach for the computer.

"Pika?" Petro deadpanned.

"Oh! I don't mean to sound sudden, but please, I need help!" Clefairy cried.

"Um, Petro? Are you… seeing this too?"

"Chu!" Petro nodded, rolling his eyes.

"No, really! My name is Bill, and I made a mistake in an experiment just now!"

Petro and Ren looked at each other for a moment, and then back at Bill. The Clefairy looked back at them, and then started to look desperate. He pointed one of his short arms over at a pod-shaped machine in the back of the room.

"I was working on the DNA analyzer back there, and when Clefairy interrupted me, we got mixed somehow!"

"Um… But aren't you a Clefairy?" Ren blinked.

"No, no! Look, my hands can't reach the computer at the moment. Can you hit the 'shut down analyzer' option for me when I get over there?"

"What do you think we should do, Petro?"

"Ka," Petro shrugged, as if to say, "Sure…"

"Uh, okay."

Ren nodded eventually, and Bill grinned excitedly as he jumped down from the chair. Ren sat down and looked at the screen, relieved that there weren't a whole lot of other options displayed. Bill tugged at her sock to get her attention, and she looked down at him.

"All you have to do is tell it to shut the machine down, okay?"

"Okay."

Bill then quickly headed over to the machine in the back of the room. Fortunately, the small door was already cracked, and Bill crawled into it. Then, Ren selected the "shut down" option, and a loud whirring sound came out of the DNA Analyzer.

Moments later, the machine's door opened, and a small Clefairy jumped back out. Ren was confused for a moment, but then there was another shuffling noise from inside the machine. A tall man with messy brown hair slowly stepped out of the Analyzer, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly as he picked up Clefairy.

"Sorry 'bout that," he grinned. "That's the first time anything like that's happened. I'm the real Bill. You are…?"

"Er, I'm Ren. And this is Petro," Ren introduced.

"Pika!"

Petro's eyes had been wide the whole time, and he blinked as he looked up at Bill. The man laughed slightly, causing Clefairy to jump out of his arms.

"Ha, ha. Petro looks more confused than you do, Ren. Anyway, I need some way to thank you…"

"Well, uh… Misty told me about your collection stuff… Do you think I could see it?"

"That's the thing though… I'll have to reboot my computer's system, since it was running the Analyzer just now," Bill said embarrassedly. "Hm, maybe I have something else I can give you…"

For a few moments, Bill tried looking in his shirt and pants pockets, but couldn't seem to find anything other than a few pens. He then quickly started looking around on his desk, and grinned again suddenly as he pushed a few papers away. Pulling out a brightly-colored ticket, he offered it to Ren.

"Here! This is a ticket I won in a drawing a few days ago. There's a ship that comes to Vermillion City—that's south of Cerulean, in case you need to know—that holds parties when it come to shore. It's called the S.S. Anne, and it oughtta be docking in a couple days."

"Wow! That sounds cool! But… why don't you want to go?" Ren asked.

"Eh… I'm not really much of an outdoorsy person, so… I was trying to find someone to give that to anyway," Bill explained. "And since you helped me out and all, I figured why not let you use it? I mean, you mentioned Misty too, and there's a gym in Vermillion too."

"This is great! Thanks!" Ren smiled brightly as she put the ticket in her pocket.

"No prob. But—ah, Clefairy, no!"

Petro had apparently been watching Clefairy the whole time, a strange smile on his face. Now, he was slowly walking towards the Normal-Type, and she was glaring at him slightly. When Petro got closer, Clefairy's eyes glowed slightly and a purple aura surrounded her. She then blasted a Psychic at Petro, sending the mouse Pokémon flying backwards.

"Petro!" Ren cried, leaning over to catch him just in time.

"Chu…" he replied, his eyes glistening more with his hurt ego more than his hurt tail.

"…Fairy," Clefairy said almost proudly, turning to walk away.

"Oh… I should have warned you. My Clefairy is a bit temperamental," Bill sighed. "Thanks again, though…"

"Uh, um… It's okay, I think. I better go on and go though. Bye, Bill!"

Ren waved with one hand as she held Petro with the other. Bill grinned sheepishly again as he waved back and Ren opened the door. Sighing herself, Ren hurried outside as quickly as possible; she was a bit scared of Clefairy herself…


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Vs Nidorino!

_Author's Notes_: Okay, so in FR/LG, it's actually a Nidoran, and you can only trade for it. But hey, the Underground has to be good for something. You didn't forget about Regina (and Rex), did you?

**Chapter Fifteen: Vs Nidorino!**

"Well… I guess we should go south of here now, right?"

Ren curiously looked at Petro, and the Pikachu shrugged. They'd just returned to Cerulean's Pokémon Center, and they were "sharing" a sandwich in the cafeteria. As they ate, Ren was remembering Bill's instructions on how to get to Vermillion City.

"Um… I saw the map out in the lobby…" Ren poked her index fingers together. "And there's supposed to be this tunnel that goes to Vermillion really quickly…"

"Pika?"

Petro suddenly perked up as he pulled a slice of cheese straight out of the sandwich. He chewed on it eagerly as Ren mentioned the word "quickly." Giggling, Ren nodded at the Pikachu.

"Yep! It's either that or go through Saffron City. I want to get to Vermillion soon too."

Ren then reached for the sandwich and picked it up to take a bite of it. However, she blinked as she bit down, realizing that she was just holding two slices of bread.

"Petro! You ate everything out of the sandwich?"

Petro burst into short laughs as Ren sighed and ate the two pieces of bread resignedly.

* * *

Ren groaned as her stomach growled. She and Petro had just walked over the southern bridge of Cerulean City, and Ren was still hungry. At least she could get a snack when they got to Vermillion…

"Chu!"

Petro suddenly pointed ahead of them, darting forward. Ren hurried after him, and blinked when she saw a small, square building. Taking a few more steps forward, she saw a sign near the building's door reading _"Cerulean—Viridian Underground Entrance."_

"Good, Petro!" Ren grinned.

"Pika," Petro replied confidently.

Ren turned the doorknob, and the door creaked a bit as she opened it. The small room had old, slightly musty linoleum tiling, a few fake potted plants in the corners, and a somewhat rickety-looking staircase in the middle. Gulping, Ren headed towards the staircase, but Petro scampered ahead.

"Ka!" he called as he darted down a few steps. He looked back at Ren as he smirked, as if to say, "Come on!"

"O-Okay…"

Stammering, Ren followed Petro down the staircase. Several moments later, the blonde heaved a sigh of relief when they safely arrived in a long, wooden tunnel. At least it was lit fairly well…

Petro started to dart ahead of Ren again, and Ren tried to keep up with him until he stopped suddenly. The Pikachu blinked, looking up at Ren and pointing forward.

"Chu?"

Soft footsteps were coming from the opposite end of the tunnel, and Ren started to get a bit nervous. However, a few seconds later, the approaching shadow revealed itself to be a short brunette girl in a blue sundress. The little girl smiled when she saw Ren.

"Hi," she said brightly. "Your Pikachu's really cute!"

"Pika!" Petro stood up a bit straighter, his smirk coming back.

"Oh, I'm Amy. I like battling! Will you battle with me?"

"Chu!" Petro agreed instantly.

"Wait, Petro…" Ren shook her head. "You just got to fight Misty the other day… I want to use Regina."

Ren took the Nidoran's Pokéball out of her pocket and released the blue Poison-Type. As Regina looked around curiously, Amy smiled again.

"Okay. I'll use Nidorino then!"

A large purple Pokémon with several spikes on its back appeared next to Amy. The Nidorino looked almost exactly like a bigger version of Rex, but Regina didn't look nervous at all. Ren tried to look calm too as she thought of an attack.

"Oh, Nidorino, use Double Kick," Amy called.

"Uh, try Scratch!"

Nidorino quickly flipped around as Regina darted towards him. When Regina raised her claw for a Scratch, Nidorino lashed out with one of his beck feet, sending her skidding back a bit. He then spun around again and raised one of his front feet for the second kick.

However, Regina panted slightly and got up, managing to shift slightly just in time to dodge. She gave Nidorino a fast scratch across the side, surprising him more than hurting him, but he still jumped backwards. As Regina caught her breath, she stared Nidorino for a few seconds determinedly and started to shake.

"R-Regina?" Ren blinked.

Seconds later, Regina started to glow. When the light faded, Regina stood taller and had larger spikes, and she looked up at Ren confidently.

"Nido… rina!"

"I've never seen a Pokémon evolve during a battle before!" Amy cried. "Is that even okay?"

"Um, I think so…" Ren answered, confused. "I guess we can finish… Regina, try Scratch again!"

Regina nodded and raised her claw again. She lashed out at the still-surprised Nidorino, who tumbled backwards several feet. As he crashed near Amy, the brunette girl sighed.

"Well, you're doing better than me anyway. I want to stop now. Come back, Nidorino!"

As Amy withdrew the Poison-Type, Ren felt her mouth drop open. While she'd never seen a Pokémon evolve mid-battle, she'd never seen anyone forfeit, either. She blinked as Amy put the ball back in her pocket and started to walk away.

"It was fun! Bye!"

Amy skipped slightly as she walked away. Still surprised, Ren looked down at Petro and Regina and sighed. Petro shook his head, and Regina sighed as well.

"I guess that was good… Okay, come back, Regina…"

Ren withdrew the Nidorina and looked back at Petro again. Shrugging, the Electric-Type grinned and started scampering ahead of Ren, as usual.

"Ah, Petro! I know you want to hurry, but wait for me…!"

At least it would be a quick trip to Vermillion if she kept running, Ren thought as she panted…


	17. Chapter Sixteeen: Vs Magikarp!

_Author's Notes_: Well, the Old Rod and Magikarp are so weird that they deserve a chapter. Vermillion City's pretty cool though…

**Chapter Sixteen: Vs Magikarp!**

"Wow, Petro! This place is huge!"

Ren stopped to catch her breath as she and Petro climbed out of the underground tunnel's exit. As they carefully replaced the trap door and turned around, the dirt trail almost instantly faded into a cement sidewalk. A low metal fence spread out from the path, guarding many multiple-story buildings and busy roads. In the distance, a beach rolled into the ocean, and ships pulled into a large harbor.

"Pika," Petro mumbled, clearly not impressed.

"Aww, come on, Petro," Ren sighed. "Let's go look around for a while, okay?"

"…Chu."

Reluctantly, Petro followed after Ren as she started walking along the sidewalk. The blonde smiled suddenly when she spotted the red roof of a Pokémon Center not far away from them, and she quickly took a left turn to get there. After a few more minutes of walking, Ren arrived at the building's sliding glass doors.

As they entered the Pokémon Center, Petro grinned and scampered ahead of Ren, obviously looking for the cafeteria. Ren hurried after him, hungry herself, and eventually they arrived at the end of the hallway leading to the room. The lunch line was thankfully short, so they were able to quickly grab a plate of salad and sit at a table.

"You know, Petro," Ren started, picking up a tomato slice with her fork. "Vermillion looks kinda pretty."

"Chu."

Petro nodded absently as he grabbed a piece of a cucumber. Ren giggled as she watched him swallow it and grab another. In a matter of minutes, the salad was gone—mostly because of the Pikachu—and Ren sighed as she threw the plastic plate away.

When Ren and Petro returned to the lobby, they noticed a small group of trainers gathering near the door. They appeared to be talking excitedly about something, and Ren curiously went over. A short brunette girl turned around when she saw Ren, and waved cheerily.

"Hey, are you going to enter the fishing contest too?" she asked.

"Fishing contest?" Ren repeated.

"Yeah, there's this guy around here who holds these contests every other week," a taller girl added. "You get a prize if you win."

"But if you lose, you have to release the Pokémon you caught."

"Oh. That sounds fun!" Ren grinned. "Want to try, Petro?"

"Pika!" Petro nodded excitedly.

"Good! It's starting soon, I think. We always meet here beforehand, and the judge guy comes to get us when he's ready," the first girl explained.

Sure enough, just a few seconds after she stopped speaking, the front doors slid open. A short man wearing a large-brimmed hat and an open life jacket entered the Pokémon Center with several fishing poles in hand. He smiled as he walked over to the group, and the trainers smiled back eagerly.

"Great to see you kids. How many are there today? Two, four… six, okay."

He handed a fishing pole to each trainer and had one left himself. Ren grinned again as she looked at her fishing pole, and followed the group outside. The man led them to a small inlet of water near the Pokémon Center, and turned around to explain the rules.

"Most of you know how this works, right? For those that don't, just try to see how big of a Water Pokémon you can pull up. Winner keeps their Pokémon and earns a prize. Okay, go!"

Quickly, the group got into a line along the water and cast their fishing poles. Ren looked around nervously as she waited for a Pokémon to bite, and Petro gave a bored sigh. After a few minutes, Ren finally felt something tug on the line and shrieked as she tried to reel it in. Almost instantly, the other trainers started pulling in Pokémon as well, struggling with their poles.

Finally, Ren managed to get her Pokémon out of the water. She blinked as she looked at the floppy orange fish, and it wiggled back towards the water. Thinking it was going to get away, Ren hurriedly turned to Petro.

"P-Petro, use Thunder Wave!"

"Chu!"

Nodding, Petro shot a few small waves of electricity out of his cheeks. The Magikarp numbed slowly and then stopped moving, its wide eyes blinking in confusion. Ren then tossed out a Pokéball, and it barely twitched before locking shut.

Sighing in relief, Ren knelt down to pick up the Pokéball. She looked up, seeing the other trainers successfully catching their own Pokémon, and slowly stood up again. The judge eagerly looked at the group, adjusting his hat as he walked towards them.

"Okay, let's see what you all caught."

The trainers promptly released their Pokémon, and Ren started feeling nervous all over again as she looked at the other catches. Her Magikarp looked more than a bit weak next to two Goldeen, a pair of Tentacool, and a Staryu. Carefully looking at the Water-Types, the judge finally seemed to settle on the winner.

"That Staryu's the star of our contest today," he grinned, and then rummaged in his large bag. "Here, kiddo. Your prize is this Water Stone."

Grinning, the skinny boy took his prize as he recalled Staryu. The other trainers sighed as they slowly turned back to the inlet and let their Pokémon go. Ren looked down at Petro as she slowly set Magikarp in the water. Shrugging, Petro cocked his head and watched Magikarp wave its fins for a few seconds to regain feeling before it swam away.

"Oh well, I guess it was kinda fun," Ren said. "Now, what was it that Bill said the ship was?"

"Pika?" Petro blinked, apparently having forgotten himself.

Ren fished around in her pocket, trying to find the ticket Bill had given her. She quickly pulled it out, and looked at the brightly-colored ship on the front of it. In white letters, "S.S. Anne 9th Annual Tour" was splashed across the ticket, and Ren grinned at Petro as she re-pocketed it.

"Okay, it's the S.S. Anne! Now we just have to go to the harbor and look for it."

"Chu!"

Nodding, Petro scurried after Ren as she started walking again, apparently just as excited as she was.


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Vs Sandshrew!

_Author's Notes_: Okay, um, about this chapter… I usually don't like using stuff from the anime, but… If I remember correctly, in the anime there were people buying Pokémon on the S.S. Anne, and I like it better than picking up a random delinquent Squirtle off of Officer Jenny. Also Gino's here again, and we meet a new important character! (Gasp!)

**Chapter Seventeen: Vs Sandshrew!**

"Excuse me, miss! What ship are you here for?"

Ren nervously smiled as she reached into her pocket. She and Petro had just arrived on Vermillion's large dock, and several ships were lined up nearby. One of the dockhands glanced up at her as she stepped forward, pulling out the ticket.

"Um, it's the S.S. Anne…"

As Ren showed her ticket to the sailor, he nodded and gestured towards a large, white boat at the end of the dock. The blonde blinked as she put the ticket back in her pocket—the ship was even bigger than she'd thought.

"Last one on the right, miss. Today's their last day scheduled in harbor for the year, so you're just in time. Have fun!"

"Okay, thanks!"

Ren grinned down at Petro, and the pair hurried over to the S.S. Anne. A ramp was raised from the dock to the ship's deck, and Ren was slightly out of breath by the time she reached the top. Several other visitors were already standing around the deck, leaning on the railing as they looked out at the ocean or talked. A couple other trainers emerged from a doorway on a cabin towards the back of the deck, and Ren cocked her head to the side.

"Where should we start, Petro?"

"Chu!"

Petro eagerly pointed to the door, and Ren nodded. They headed down the staircase behind the doorway, and soon they arrived in a large room that resembled an old-fashioned ballroom. A chandelier hung in the middle of the ceiling, and several round tables covered in white tablecloths sat around room.

However, there were also several stalls set up, and trainers were flocking to them. Ren curiously walked over to one of the less crowded booths, and Petro scampered after her. A short raven-haired boy was taking a Pokéball from the man at the table while handing him a few bills. The boy grinned, clipping his new Pokémon to his belt, and the merchant looked up to see Ren.

"Oh, hello, miss! Are you interested in buying?"

"Er, buying what?"

The man cleared his throat. "You might have noticed, but the other vendors and I are all selling specially bred Pokémon. They're all quite docile, I'll have you know. I've got Squirtle—actually, a single Squirtle! I'm down to my last one now."

"Hm…" Ren tapped her chin. "I guess a Squirtle could be useful and fun…"

"Yes, yes, quite! I'll even offer a discount. I've been selling all week, and the females went out quickly. I'm really trying to get rid of my last male…"

"All right, I'll take him!"

"Very well, very well! That'll be five hundred Poké, miss."

Ren eagerly pulled a few bills out of her pocket, and Petro sighed as she handed them to the merchant. As Ren put the Pokéball into her pocket, the man winked.

"Enjoy him! Thanks for buying."

"You're welcome!"

Ren's grin widened as she turned away from the booth, but Petro shook his head. It was fairly obvious he didn't think it was a good deal, but Ren tried not to think so as well. Around her, several trainers were sitting around the tables, releasing the Pokémon they'd just bought and introducing themselves. Quickly, Ren tried to look for an empty table as well.

"Okay, Petro, we need to meet Squirtle! And Sol, too—"

Ren was cut off mid-sentence when she bumped into someone. She winced as she dropped the two Pokéballs she was carrying, and blushed as she knelt down to pick them up.

"I-I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I didn't mean to… Really…"

"Oh, no, it's my fault!"

Blinking, Ren looked up at a skinny, pale boy with shoulder-length red hair. He smiled as he handed Ren her Pokéballs, the sleeves of his red sweater falling over the tips of his fingers. Ren scrambled to her feet, her blush deepening.

"Um… Thanks…"

"You're welcome," he replied softly. "My name's Taylor, by the way. Taylor Rayne. What's yours?"

"R-Ren Mason. Er… Would you l-like to…"

"Sit down?" Taylor finished. "Of course."

Ren tiptoed to the closest table, pulling out one of the chairs. Taylor pulled out the chair next to her, smiling again, but Petro frowned as he hopped onto the table.

"Oh, this is Petro!" Ren brightened up. "He was my first Pokémon ever. I just bought a Squirtle though."

"Really? My parents stopped in Vermillion for a trip, and they bought me a ticket at the Pokémon Center so I could come on here… And I just bought a Hitmonchan. He was really expensive," Taylor replied, tapping his chin. "But he gets along with my Hitmonlee."

"I… I've never heard of those," Ren sighed, hanging her head slightly.

"You haven't? I guess they're kind of rare. Can I see your Squirtle, though? I've heard of them but I've never had one before."

"Okay! I want to show you my Charmander, too. I haven't gotten to use him much either."

Ren felt a bit better as she released Squirtle and Sol. The Charmander rolled his eyes a bit as he materialized on the table, but he looked like he was in a considerably improved mood than he'd been with Ardeo. Squirtle, however, looked around curiously, and smiled when he saw Taylor and Ren.

"Um, hi!" Ren introduced nervously. "Sol, I just got Squirtle. Uh… Squirtle… Can I call you Igloo? It's kinda cute…"

Squirtle paused, thinking, and then nodded. "Squirt!"

"I like it, too," Taylor grinned.

"Good," Ren sighed in relief.

"Hey. I didn't expect to see _you_ here, Ren."

Ren blinked as she looked up. Gino was standing a few feet away from the table she and Taylor were at, and he'd apparently been heading towards a door on the side wall of the room. He ran a hand through his messy brown hair as he smirked.

"That Squirtle's _yours_?"

"Yes," Ren replied nervously. "I, um, just now bought him."

"I just bought a Pokémon too. Wanna try ours out?"

"Okay…"

Gino pulled a Pokéball off of his belt and pressed the release button, and a particularly large Sandshrew materialized next to him. He then paused and grabbed his other Pokéball, releasing his Eevee.

"Let's make this a double battle. Your little Charmander needs work, too."

"All right…" Ren gulped, and looked over at Sol and Igloo. "Is that okay, guys?"

Sol nodded and immediately jumped down to the floor, raising his claws into a fighting stance. Igloo carefully climbed down after Sol, looking at the two other Pokémon. As Taylor looked at Ren and Gino's Pokémon, he smiled over at Ren.

"You have a type advantage, you know?"

"Y-yeah," Ren squeaked. "Igloo… Try Bubble on Sandshrew! And Sol, use… how about Ember?"

"Sand Attack, Sandshrew," Gino replied dismissively.

Sol launched a few coals out of his mouth while Igloo blew a few bubbles towards Sandshrew. However, the Ground-Type leaned forward slightly, opening its mouth and blasting a stream of sand towards both Pokémon. The sand shot through both attacks and hit Sol and Igloo, sending them tumbling backwards.

"Right, Eevee, use Tackle!"

Eevee dashed forward, crashing into Igloo. The Squirtle stumbled backwards, falling into Sol, and both Pokémon fell to the floor. Unfortunately, neither got up, and Gino smirked as he withdrew Eevee and Sandshrew.

"I didn't think it'd be _that_ easy."

"Aw, I'm sorry, guys," Ren sighed, recalling her Pokémon as well.

"Pika!" Petro scowled, hopping off the table and glaring up at Gino.

"Look, your Pikachu's more upset then you are," Gino snorted. "Anyway, I'm off to look around. See ya, Ren."

"B-bye, Gino…"

Gino rolled his eyes as he turned and walked away. Petro's cheeks sparked slightly as he watched Gino leave, but simply frowned as he jumped onto the table again. Ren's head drooped as she leaned forward and crossed her arms on the table, and Petro poked her temple rather indelicately.

"Chu."

"Hey, Ren?"

Ren blinked as Taylor tapped her shoulder. As she looked up, the redhead grinned.

"Don't feel bad; Sandshrews can be tough. Want to look around the ship a bit?"

"All right!"

Ren stood up quickly, her mood increasing as she started to follow Taylor out of the dining room. There was still a lot she could do, Ren decided, and she wouldn't let Gino get to her…


	19. Chapter Eighteen: Vs Raichu!

_Author's Notes_: I… really don't like Surge. Okay, well actually, I just don't like his Raichu. And he only has Raichu not because of the anime but because the extra Pikachu doesn't make sense and because I hate Voltorb. Yeah. And besides this _is_ Yellow-based…

**Chapter Eighteen: Vs Raichu!**

"The cabins are back here! I got to look inside some of the empty ones."

Taylor grinned as he and Ren ducked into a long, carpeted hallway behind the dining room. Large, mahogany doors with brass handles lined the wall, and Ren's eyes widened as she looked around.

"Wow! What are the like on the inside?"

"They all have two huge beds in them, and a desk," Taylor replied slowly, tapping his chin. "Oh, and a small couch!"

"Can we go in one?"

"…Pika."

Petro yawned as Ren brought up the suggestion. The blonde cocked her head and looked down at the Pikachu, and he rolled his eyes slightly. Ren scratched the back of her neck as she looked back at Taylor.

"Um, I guess we can look around a bit more first."

"All right!" Taylor agreed. "There are still mostly cabins, though, but I did get to see the kitchen earlier."

"Chu!"

Petro suddenly perked up at the word _kitchen_. Giggling, Ren hurried after Taylor, with Petro following along just as eagerly.

* * *

"Whew… This boat really _is_ big…"

Ren panted as she, Taylor, and Petro arrived back on the S.S. Anne's deck. Taylor had shown her to the kitchen, but one of the cooks had kicked them out before they had much of a chance to look inside. He'd then shown her all the hallways and even a few cabins. Now, the redhead had decided it would be a good idea to get some fresh air.

"Look, the sunset looks really nice too. I didn't know how late it was," Taylor commented, leaning against the rail.

Smiling, Ren looked out at the sun as well, watching the red, orange, and pink streaks in the sky fade together around it.

"Yeah… But… Isn't today the last day the ship will be here?" she blinked.

"Uh huh. Why?"

"Well, um, if we stay here too long, won't they… leave with us?"

"Oh!" Taylor's brown eyes widened suddenly. "That's right! And I've been on all day, too! We better get off."

"Chu," Petro nodded in agreement.

The three hurried to the opposite side of the deck so they could climb down the plank. There was a deckhand waiting near the ramp, apparently about to pull it up, when they arrived. Shaking his head, the man hurriedly waved at them to go down, and they did all too quickly. Panting when they arrived at the bottom, Ren stumbled back a few steps and caught her breath.

The ship's horn then blew loudly, and the deckhand released the ramp. Slowly, the S.S. Anne's engine roared, and the boat started to drift away. Grinning in relief, Taylor and Ren turned around and started walking off the dock.

"Wow, that was close," Taylor sighed.

"Yeah… Hey, um, Taylor… I want to go to the gym. Do you want to come, too?"

"That sounds fun," Taylor nodded. "I've never had a gym battle before."

"Okay!"

Several moments later, the trio stepped off the dock and onto Vermillion's sandy shoreline. As huge as Vermillion was, the gym was surprisingly perched far on the edge of the beach, not far from where the dock was. It was a large, square, orange building, with a jagged metal door painted yellow. Several large arches, painted yellow and black, lined the pathway right in front of the building.

Ren, Petro, and Taylor quickly followed the winding pathway and arrived at the gym's door. Gulping, Ren raised her fist to knock nervously. The door flew open suddenly, catching both Ren and Taylor by surprise. Petro merely blinked the whole time, and Ren did too when she saw the man in the doorframe.

He was huge—at least a foot and a half taller than Ren—and had his arms folded across his chest. Large, extremely dark sunglasses covered his eyes, and his thick eyebrows contrasted quite sharply with his buzz cut. He was decked out in a camouflage uniform and heavy-looking unlaced combat boots, and he looked ready to pulverize anyone who made him angry enough.

"What do you kids want?" he asked, his voice gruff.

"Um," Ren squeaked. "I, uh…"

"Sh-she wants a gym battle!" Taylor forced out bravely.

"Then why are you saying it for her?"

While the man sounded amused, Ren was still nervous. She tried to stand up a bit straighter. Then she cleared her throat and tried to talk again.

"I… I, um… Can I have a gym battle, please?"

"Sure, kiddo. Name's Surge, but that's Lieutenant Surge to you. I'm the leader here. C'mon in."

Ren, Petro, and Taylor followed him into the slightly darkened room. Lt. Surge flipped a light switch on the wall, and the three others had to blink rapidly as the lights flashed on. When they could see clearly, Ren noticed several odd electrical machines hooked up around the room, and there was a large wired ring in the middle.

"All right, kid, this is how the gym works," Surge grinned. "We fight up there in the ring, one-on-one. The wires are electrical, but not enough to really hurt anything… Except maybe a Water or Flying-Type, or something small. You think you're ready?"

Ren gulped, suddenly nervous about stumbling into the wires herself. However, she nodded anyway, and the lieutenant grinned widely.

"Good. There are steps on the sides so you can get up there. But I'm gonna have to ask Red over there to stay on the sidelines."

"That's all right, I just want to watch anyway," Taylor replied.

Surge nodded at him as he and Ren stepped up to the ring. Petro quickly scampered ahead of her, striking a confident pose. Laughing, the Gym Leader reached for his own Pokéball.

"You ain't using your Pikachu… Are you?"

"Um… Well, yeah, I guess. He wants to fight…"

"Okay, don't say I didn't warn you. Come on, Raichu!"

Lt. Surge proudly released a particularly large Raichu. Its tail snaked around it until the lightning-bolt-shaped growth on the end touched the floor a few feet in front of it, and its large ears drooped slightly. The larger mouse Pokémon had its fists raised, and they were sparking slightly along with its cheeks.

Suddenly, Raichu dove forward, electricity bursting from its fist in a Thunderpunch. Petro just barely managed to dodge, Raichu's fist hitting exactly where he had just been. The Pikachu glared as he twitched his ears.

"Pika!" he cried angrily.

"That's fair," Surge shrugged. "Raichu's using legal moves and all. That's just a favorite warm-up move. Let's go with Thunderpunch again."

"Rai!"

Nodding, Raichu's fists continued to spark as he stepped forward. Petro stepped backward slowly, and Ren tried to come up with something.

"Um, try dodging and hitting with Quick Attack!"

Petro grinned as Ren said the attack, and paused as Raichu came forward. The orange Electric-Type swung forward, and Petro dodged purposefully on the last second. He then darted back towards Raichu, attempting to crash into it, but Raichu smirked. It quickly rammed its fist out again, causing electricity to cover Petro as he flew backwards.

Petro crashed into one of the wires surrounding the ring, and then instantly fell to the floor. Ren gasped as Petro hit the concrete, wondering if he'd been hurt too badly. However, the Pikachu managed to just barely pull himself up, sweat dripping down his face as he slowly crawled back to Ren.

"Pi… ka…" he panted.

"That's one tough Pikachu," Surge remarked. "Too bad he ain't tough enough to be able to attack again… And this'll finish things up so soon… Thunderbolt!"

Large bolts of electricity flew out of Raichu's cheeks, quickly surrounding Petro. Sinking the rest of the way down to the floor, Petro winced as the attack hit, and twitched slightly when it stopped. He put his head down and closed his eyes, obviously not able to get back up.

"Oh, no! Petro!" Ren cried anxiously.

The blonde scurried over to Petro and tried to touch him, but before she could, a small bit of static flew out of his fur and shocked her. Surprised, Ren quickly retracted her hand.

"Maybe that was a bit much… Sorry." Surged folded his arms across his chest again. "Y'wanna try again tomorrow or somethin', kid?"

"O-okay, I will," Ren stammered. "Um, Petro…"

She carefully picked up Petro, and he winced slightly. As she walked back down the steps, Taylor hurried over to the door and held it open for her.

"Thanks," she whispered. "Um… I'll, uh… be here tomorrow, L-Lieutenant Surge, sir!"

"A'right. See ya, kid."

Ren smiled sadly as she walked slowly out of the building. Unfortunately, the Pokémon Center was still a ways away form the gym, and she sighed.

"That was a really fast battle…"

"I know. I thought Petro would do well with Quick Attack."

Taylor frowned slightly, reaching into the pocket of his black jeans. He then pulled out a ragged yellow stone and held it up.

"I bought this on the S.S. Anne too. It's a Thunder Stone, and it'll help Petro evolve. Do you want it for tomorrow?"

"But… What if he gets all big and mean and scary like Lt. Surge's Raichu?" Ren gasped.

"I don't think he will," Taylor grinned.

"Yeah… I guess you're right… But still… I don't think so."

"That's all right, too." Taylor put the Thunderstone back in his pocket. "Would you like to get something to eat at the Pokémon Center with me after Petro is healed?"

"Yep! That sounds great! Let's go."

A small smile formed on Ren's face as she followed Taylor away from the gym.


	20. Chapter Nineteen: Vs Raichu II!

_Author's Notes_: I was thinking for about five seconds that Petro should re-challenge Raichu… But then I decided that it would turn the Surge battle into a complete anime clone. It's already kinda bordering on that, but… I wanted to use Rex again anyway. And Taylor's fun, so he'll definitely be back and important later on.

**Chapter Nineteen: Vs Raichu II!**

"So, um… Would you like… to get dinner at the Pokémon Center?"

After leaving the Gym, Taylor and Ren were currently wandering around Vermillion's busy sidewalks. Admittedly, Ren didn't remember the way back to the Center, so that was part of the reason she'd asked. Taylor paused for a moment and grinned sheepishly at her.

"Well," he said, brushing a piece of his hair out of his face. "I'm supposed to meet my parents back in their hotel room soon, so…"

"There's a hotel?" Ren blinked.

"Yeah, but it's kinda small and it's way over on the east side of town."

"…Oh."

Taylor smiled. "It was really fun hanging out with you though! I hope you do better tomorrow."

"Thanks," Ren replied, trying to return the smile. "Uh… I guess… Bye?"

"Bye, Ren!"

The redhead waved cheerily as he turned to walk away. Ren sighed as she watched him leave, and soon Taylor was blocked from view by several other people on the sidewalk. Petro rolled his eyes as he looked up at his trainer.

"Pika?"

"Yeah…" Ren looked ahead again as she nodded. "We better go. I'm hungry too… I wish he could have stayed though."

"Chu!"

Laughing, Petro wove through the legs of several people and scampered ahead, earning Ren a few odd looks as she hurriedly tried not to lose him. Smiling as well, Ren darted ahead, hoping she'd catch up soon.

* * *

"Hey, Petro… Are you tired?"

Ren yawned as she watched Petro eat the last corner of their turkey-and-ham sandwich. The Pikachu cocked his head to the side as he swallowed, blinking.

"It's kinda late," Ren explained.

"Chu."

Petro shrugged but nodded, hopping down to the floor from the table. Ren stood up as well, rubbing her eyes slightly as she and Petro walked out of the cafeteria. They were some of the few that had gone to eat that late, so there were only a few other trainers in the room when they left.

Of course, when Ren and Petro arrived in the common room, it was pretty crowded. Gulping, Ren grabbed a bright yellow sleeping bag from the few remaining, and tried to look for a place to set it down. Fortunately, after a few seconds, she found a spot near the middle of the room.

As Ren unrolled the bag, Petro instantly scampered inside it. A small lump near the bottom indicated where he'd curled up, and Ren giggled.

"Um, Petro? I don't want to kick you accidentally."

A muffled sigh came from Petro, and he slowly crawled back out. Ren slipped off her sneakers before sliding in herself, and Petro paused as he waited on Ren. Then, he grudgingly curled up near Ren's head, and the blonde smiled as she started to nod off…

* * *

"Pika…"

Ren blinked slowly the next morning as she heard Petro groan. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and looked around, realizing there was already a lot of light coming in through the Pokémon Center's windows. Petro had his arms folded across his chest, and looked like he'd been up for a while.

"Sorry, Petro…" Ren yawned.

"Chu."

Sighing, Petro looked on impatiently as Ren folded up her sleeping bag. The pair then walked out of the common room and into the lobby, and Ren's stomach growled. Petro blinked as Ren sheepishly held her stomach.

"I guess we should get breakfast before we go to the gym."

Nodding eagerly, Petro scampered after Ren as she headed to the cafeteria. The bonus to being late was that there was a short wait at the breakfast line, and Ren only had to wait a few minutes before snagging a few pieces of toast. As she and Petro sat down, the Pikachu immediately grabbed a slice and started gnawing on it, and Ren giggled as she watched him chew the toast quickly.

When Ren finished her own toast, she and Petro stood up again to leave the cafeteria. Petro managed to stay a few feet ahead of Ren, and kept looking over his shoulder as he darted ahead of her as if to make sure she was still there. Arriving in the lobby, Ren quickly headed to the glass door and slid it open. She paused for a moment to stretch when she got outside, but Petro looked impatiently at her.

"Okay, Petro, I'm coming!"

Fortunately, Ren still remembered how to get to the gym, so even though Vermillion City was large, she and Petro managed to get there fairly quickly. However, she still felt nervous when she arrived at the front door, and gulped as she knocked. Surge threw the door open almost instantly, smirking as he adjusted his sunglasses.

"Hey, kiddo," he greeted. "Hope you're ready—I just finished a battle and I'm more than ready myself!"

"Uh, okay," Ren replied, grinning nervously.

Petro darted ahead of her again into the gym, and as Ren followed, Surge chuckled. Petro cocked his head, glaring slightly.

"I guess you're using that little Pikachu again?"

"Pika!" Petro protested.

"Actually… I think maybe I want to try something else."

"Oh, really now? I hope this'll be as fun as yesterday!"

Lt. Surge grinned as he and Ren approached the platform in the middle of the room. Petro sighed sulkily as he followed them, crossing his arms as Ren reached into her pocket for a Pokéball.

"I want to try using my Nidoran!"

Ren released Rex, and the Poison-Type's ears twitched as he materialized next to her. Surge's smirk widened as he released his Raichu, and the large orange mouse looked equally confident.

"Okay, Raichu, let's lead with Thunderpunch."

"Um, Rex, use Double Kick!"

Raichu's clenched fist began sparking as it strode forward. It took a swing at Rex, but before it could hit, Rex flipped around and kicked its hand out of the way. He then proceeded to kick Raichu in the stomach, and the stunned Electric-Type stumbled backwards.

"Not bad, kid," Surge commented. "But will he dodge another Thunderpunch?"

Raichu managed to regain its footing after a few seconds. It then raised its static-covered fist again and dove towards Rex. The Nidoran didn't dodge in time, and the punch hit him dead-on. He tumbled backwards, panting and as he struggled to his fist.

"R-Rex!" Ren gasped. "Are you okay?"

Growling, Rex narrowed his eyes, and there was suddenly a bright flash. After a few seconds, a much larger Pokémon stood in Rex's place, with larger ears and more spikes. He glared at Raichu, ears laid back—Rex was obviously angry.

"Nido… Rino!" he cried.

Charging forward, Rex lowered the prominent horn on his forehead. Leaning forward, he thrust his horn under Raichu and tossed it over his back. Raichu yelped as it crashed to the floor a few feet away. It managed to get back up, but very slowly; the crash had caused several bruises and Raichu looked stiff.

"Wow… Do that again, Rex!"

Nodding, Rex's glare deepened as he charged at Raichu again. One more time, Rex thrust Raichu over his head using his horn. That time, however, it didn't get back up after landing, and Rex stood victoriously over it.

"Heh. I suppose that was just as quick as yesterday," Surge grinned, albeit wearily, as he withdrew Raichu. "Good job, kiddo."

"Yeah, Rex was great," Ren grinned back, recalling the Nidorino.

"Here, kid. It's a Thunder Badge."

Surge handed Ren a round, yellow badge with spiky edges. He then thumped her back as she slipped it into her pocket, almost causing her to stumble.

"Pretty fun battle, huh? Good luck later, kiddo!"

"Um, thanks, Lieutenant Surge!"

Waving excitedly, Ren headed to the gym's door and managed to open it as she leaned against it. Petro sighed and hurried after her. Despite the fact that he hadn't gotten to battle, he still seemed as pleased to be leaving as Ren was.


	21. Chapter Twenty: Vs Bellsprout!

_Author's Note_: How often do you actually see Rock Tunnel in a fic? Besides, it wasn't even mentioned in the anime OR PokéSpecial. Hence, why Ren is heading there.

**Chapter Twenty: Vs Bellsprout!**

"P-Petro? I wonder what everyone is doing in front of the Pokémon Center…"

Ren blinked as she stopped short a few feet from Vermillion's Pokémon Center. There was a small group of trainers gathered around the door, and a tall brunette girl suddenly burst out of the door. She was holding an unfolded newspaper in her hand, and apparently started reading it aloud to the rest of the group.

Curiously, Ren and Petro tiptoed over. Despite the fact that they ended up in the back of the crowd, it was still fairly easy to hear what the girl was reading.

"_Lavender's Silence Bridge is currently under repairs, and is not expected to be completed for another two weeks in the earliest_," she announced, looking extremely focused on the article. "_Unfortunately, this means that Lavender is cut off from Vermillion and Fuchsia. Any traveling trainers who do not wish to wait are recommended to travel through Rock Tunnel near Cerulean, as Saffron City's recent power outages are dangerous._"

"Two weeks?" a skinny blonde boy demanded. "What's the deal?"

"Hey, you can still go through Rock Tunnel," the girl pointed out, frowning as she re-folded the newspaper.

"Come on. That place sounds even more dangerous than Saffron," the boy snorted. "I heard there was a rockslide there last month."

"That's a lie. The only rockslides that ever go on around here are the ones in Mt. Moon," another girl replied imperiously.

Ren and Petro stole a glance at each other as they heard the comment. Neither felt the need to mention that some of these rockslides were even caused during excavations by the excavator's own Pokémon.

"Well, I'm going through Rock Tunnel. I need to visit a memorial service soon for one of my cousin's old Pokémon," the first girl sighed, slipping the newspaper into her backpack. "Are you coming with me, Addie?"

"Of course," the shorter girl replied. "Let's go get a bite to eat and head back to Cerulean, okay?"

"Great!"

The two girls grinned as they pushed open the Pokémon Center's doors. Shaking their heads, the rest of the group slowly dispersed, and Ren blinked again as she looked down at Petro.

"Um, I guess we should eat too," Ren drifted off. "And then should we go to Cerulean?"

"Chu!" Petro nodded decisively.

Ren grinned, taking a few quick steps toward the Pokémon Center. "Okay, good!"

Petro nodded, darting along with her instead of running ahead.

* * *

Having gone to bed right after eating, Ren woke up fairly early the next morning—she was even awake before Petro for once. The Pikachu was curled up next to her sleeping bag, but he looked like he was sleeping fairly lightly. A few seconds later, he rolled over onto his side and started to blink.

"Pika?" he said sleepily.

"Good morning, Petro," Ren greeted, crawling out of her sleeping bag.

Petro started to stand up as Ren rolled up her sleeping bag. The pair headed to the front of the common room, and Ren returned her sleeping bag to the collection box. By then, Petro had fully woken up, and he started scampering ahead of her to get to the cafeteria.

When they got there, the line was fairly short since there weren't very many other trainers that had woken up that early. Ren took two pieces of toast and from the serving bar and handed one to Petro, and they ate on the way back to the lobby. Petro kept pausing between bites to make sure he didn't have any crumbs in his fur, and Ren giggled as she watched him.

They got to the lobby a few minutes later, and Ren blinked as she started to look around. Petro crossed his arms as he followed, looking curious but impatient at the same time.

"Sometimes they have maps hanging up in the lobby," Ren explained as she passed a bookshelf.

"Chu…"

Petro reluctantly kept up with Ren, and a few seconds later Ren found a scaled-down map of Kanto hanging above one of the lobby's small couches. She searched for Rock Tunnel, and sure enough, she found it slightly to the east of Cerulean City. Fortunately, it looked like there was a small path near the Underground Tunnel that led around Cerulean, so she'd be able to get there quickly.

"Okay, Petro, let's go!"

"Pika!"

Petro agreed eagerly as he darted towards the Pokémon Center's door, startling a few other early risers.

* * *

"This place seems… longer than before…"

Ren panted slightly as she and Petro reached the end of Vermillion's Underground Tunnel. They had entered the tunnel right after leaving the Pokémon Center, and while it definitely took the same length of time as it had before, Ren was out of breath. It had to be because she'd just woken up, but then again, Petro seemed to be totally fine.

"Chu," he commented, looking bored.

Ren paused for a few seconds to catch her breath, and then turned to the staircase at the back of the hallway. She climbed up the stairs slowly, and unlatched the trap door at the top. Petro scurried up into the small entrance room, and Ren slid the trap door back in place after she climbed out too. She then opened the building's small wooden door, and it creaked as she closed it again.

Ren smiled slightly as she and Petro started following the winding dirt path away from the tunnel. She could see Cerulean City slightly in the distance, and while it could have been fun to stop by again, she had to remember to go around the city. Fortunately, the right turn was easy to find, and Ren and Petro suddenly found the path to be narrowing slightly.

"Ka?" Petro blinked.

Ren stopped walking as well. The path led to a dry, rocky area with several small hills, quite unlike the green, flowery area they'd just been in. Slightly disappointed, Ren took a few more steps, figuring the landscape made sense if they were heading to a cave… She did like plants better, though.

Carefully avoiding a few rocks in the path, Ren took a few more turns. Petro, however, managed to jump over a few of the rocks, although it slowed him down a bit. Eventually, he just walked along with her, apparently realizing it would be easier that way.

After a few more minutes of the maneuvering the mountain trail, Ren had to stop to catch her breath again. Petro looked slightly annoyed, but paused as well. He then, however, looked to the side, and looked confused for once.

"Chu?"

A short girl in a green camping outfit was apparently taking a break as well a few feet away. She was leaning against a particularly tall rock, taking a long drink of water. When she looked up, she straightened her hat and brushed a piece of her short hair out of her face, and cocked her head as she looked at Ren.

"Hi," she said genially. "Are you heading to Cerulean, too?"

"Uh, actually… I'm heading to Rock Tunnel," Ren explained.

"I just came from there," the girl replied. "It's not all that confusing to get through, but it's kind of long. Oh, and my name's Lily, by the way. You?"

"Um, Ren. And this is Petro"

"Cool," Lily commented, causing Petro to grin proudly. "Hey, by the way, would you like to have a quick battle? I want to challenge Misty later, so I need some practice."

"Okay, that sounds kinda fun," Ren agreed.

"Great! I only have my Bellsprout with me right now, though."

Lily reached for the one Pokéball on her belt, and released a skinny, vine-like Pokémon with a large bell-shaped head. Petro started to step forward, but Ren shook her head. Pouting, Petro folded his arms as Ren reached for Sol's Pokéball.

"I'll use my Charmander, then."

Sol materialized next to Ren, looking confident when he saw Bellsprout. In response, the plant Pokémon simply blinked mildly.

"Bellsprout, use Razor Leaf," Lily grinned.

"Um, Sol, use Ember!"

Bellsprout inhaled sharply, and then shot a flurry of leaves out of its wide mouth. As the attack shot towards Sol, the Charmander paused. He then turned to his side and grabbed his tail, blowing on the flame. The fire struck the first few leaves, burning them easily, and several other leaves sizzled when they hit the first few. A bit of the attack still hit Sol, though, and he stumbled backwards.

"Now use Giga Drain!"

Bellsprout nodded and closed its eyes. A light green glow surrounded both Bellsprout and Sol, and Sol started to get a bit wobbly. He stumbled again, but Bellsprout seemed to be getting more energetic.

"Sol!" Ren cried. "Try to use Flamethrower!"

Gritting his teeth, Sol forced himself to step forward, despite the fact that he was starting to droop. He then managed to open his mouth and forced out a Flamethrower. The attack was a bit weak, but a bit of it still managed to hit Bellsprout. Its eyes widened as one of the wide leaves on its side started to burn and quickly squatted down, trying to blow it out, and the hesitation was enough for it to stop the Giga Drain.

"Okay, Sol, I think you can beat it if you use Scratch now," Ren called.

Sol leapt forward with his claws out, and Bellsprout looked up in confusion. It had just managed to get the flames out when Sol quickly scratched it across the side, and it tumbled over, fainted. Lily sighed and withdrew Bellsprout, scratching the back of her neck.

"I guess I need to do a bit of training still, but that was a Fire-Type… It was a good battle though."

"Yep!" Ren agreed, withdrawing Sol as well. "It was."

"Thanks, Ren. See you later!"

Ren waved to Lily as she left, and then looked down at Petro, who had been watching the battle with quite a bit of interest.

"Maybe we can get to Rock Tunnel soon now. Want to see?"

"Pika!"

Grinning, Petro nodded, and the two started walking along the rough trail again.


	22. Chapter Twenty One: Vs Zubat!

_Author's Notes_: For some reason Rock Tunnel is one of my favorite cave from Yellow. Maybe it was from the ten or so hikers that all had Geodude and Graveller, and all those wild Onixes, which helped Squirtle and Bulbasaur tremendously?

Oh, by the way, a quick note. If you haven't looked at my review page, I'll restate it here. Please, if you're going to review anonymously, leave an email address if you want to say something important—if not, I'll delete it. I mean, it's easier to reply to you if you do, and if it's really that big a deal to you then you should log in and say it. Furthermore, if I sound too close to the anime, I am very sorry, as I am extremely impartial to it. But this IS Yellow, which, in hindsight, was spawned from the anime in the first place. Plus with the Surge battle, that was partially because Petro just likes to fight and doesn't necessarily think that any of Ren's other Pokémon are good enough for the job, ha. Anyway, sorry for this text block, and on with the chapter.

**Chapter Twenty One: Vs Zubat!**

"Th-There's a Pokémon Center way out here?"

Ren panted slightly as she stopped to blink. She and Petro had followed several more curves in the winding trail, and they had eventually stumbled upon an admittedly Pokémon Center. The red roof stood out sharply compared to the mountain that was slowly rising out from behind the building.

"We should probably stop here before we go on," Ren sighed. "It's starting to get a little bit dark already."

"Chu!" Petro protested, pointing towards the tunnel instead.

Giggling nervously at Petro's enthusiasm, Ren shook her head. "I-I know you're not tired, Petro… But I am…"

"Pika…"

Frowning but nodding, Petro followed Ren towards the Center. As the glass door slid open, Ren noticed that there were only a few trainers sitting around in the lobby instead of the groups she was used to seeing. There were two pairs of trainers, and one girl was sitting by herself on the couch.

"Hey," the girl on the couch grinned, looking up as Ren entered. "Did you just come out of the tunnel or something? You look worn out."

"Um…" Ren blinked as she stopped walking suddenly. "N-no. I'm going there tomorrow…"

"Ah. Well, it's not too bad. Just try not to get lost," she yawned, brushing a piece of her curly hair out of her face. "It's not long or anything. Just, you know. Really winding and confusing."

"Oh, uh… That's good to know," Ren squeaked, starting to doubt that the tunnel was actually safe.

"And dark. But you've got a Pikachu there, so you'll be able to use electricity for light… Just try to make sure you see the ground, though. If you trip on a Pokémon, it won't be too happy with you, to put it simply."

"Y-yeah…"

"Chu!"

Petro growled abruptly, rolling his eyes. He then looked up at Ren, folding his arms impatiently. The blonde smiled, still a bit nervous, as she looked down at Petro.

"I know, I'll try not to be scared," she forced. She then added to the girl, "Er… I have to go h-heal my Pokémon now… Thank you…"

"Good luck in Rock Tunnel, kid," the girl grinned.

Gulping, Ren nodded as she headed up to the counter. The pink-suited nurse had just entered the lobby from the small room behind the counter, and she smiled warmly as Ren approached. Ren quickly reached for her five other Pokéballs as Petro jumped onto the counter.

"Um, thanks," she said as the nurse took her Pokémon.

"No problem. I'll page you when they're all finished healing."

As Ren turned away from the counter, she blushed as she felt her stomach growl. She hurried towards the hallway leading to the cafeteria, reminding herself to save a snack for her Pokémon…

* * *

"Pika!"

Petro hopped over the counter as Ren hurried back into the lobby. The nurse had just paged her over the intercom as promised, calling her down by her Pokémon. Ren grinned as she walked over to Petro and then to the counter. The nurse smiled and handed Ren the rest of her Pokéballs before hurrying back into the healing room.

"Here, Petro!"

Ren bent over and handed Petro a small piece of bread that she'd saved from the sandwich she'd had for dinner. The Pikachu ate it eagerly as he followed Ren to the Center's common room. When they arrived there, Ren took a sleeping bag from the usual provided box, and unrolled it in the back of the fairly empty room—it was still a little early, despite the fact that it was already dark out.

As Ren crawled into her sleeping bag, Petro curled up next to the wall as usual. Giggling slightly, Ren pulled out her other Pokéballs and released Rex, Regina, Venus, Sol, and Igloo. As they greeted her with various levels of alertness (Regina was nearly asleep but Sol was wide awake), Ren pulled five more small pieces of bread from her skirt pocket. Fortunately, they hadn't been squished too much and didn't leave too many crumbs.

"Here, guys!"

The Pokémon cried out in appreciation and quickly swallowed their bread pieces. Ren smiled as she watched them eat, and Sol tried determinedly to get all of the few crumbs that were available. She then recalled them one by one, letting Sol out for a few more seconds until he got the last crumb. Setting her Pokéballs inside the sleeping bag as well, Ren rolled over and closed her eyes.

"Good night… Petro…"

"Chu," Petro responded sleepily.

As Petro's breathing slowed, Ren started to get tired herself and slowly drifted off…

* * *

"Ka!"

Petro woke Ren up again the next morning. Unlike usual, however, the Electric type was tugging on one of Ren's ponytails instead of poking her. Ren winced as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Petro…" she yawned. "That hurt…"

"Chu," Petro sighed.

"Oh well… I guess we better hurry and go."

Ren slowly crawled out of her sleeping bag, making sure to grab all of her Pokéballs. She then rolled it up and carried it over to the return box, where several other sleeping bags were already sitting. The pair then hurried down the long hallway out of the common room, and, instead of turning to the lobby, took the hallway to the cafeteria.

After waiting through a fairly long line, Ren snagged two pieces of toast. Handing one to Petro, she started eating her slice as they headed back out. By the time they reached the lobby again, both she and Petro had finished their toast.

"Okay, Petro, are you ready to go through Rock Tunnel?" Ren asked, trying more to get herself ready than Petro.

"Chu!" Petro cried, his eyes reading "Of course!"

"All right," Ren gulped. "Let's go…"

She headed to the Pokémon Center's door and pushed it open, letting it slide closed again as Petro scampered after her. The tunnel entrance rose out of the rocky ground behind the Center, and Ren took a few hesitant steps towards it. Petro hurried ahead of her to the wide but short entrance, impatiently waving at her.

"I'm c-coming!" she called quickly.

Ren took several braver steps towards Rock Tunnel's entrance, ducking through it into the chilly tunnel. The ground started sloping downwards, and as she and Petro walked, the tunnel started getting cooler and darker. After a few minutes, the light from outside had completely vanished, and unlike Mt. Moon, Rock Tunnel clearly was not traveled very much… The tunnel didn't have makeshift strings of lights like Mt. Moon did.

"Petro," Ren whispered. "Do you think maybe you could light up your cheeks?"

"Pika…"

Petro's voice echoed from somewhere around Ren's knees, and a few seconds later, twin pairs of yellow lights flashed out from his cheeks like flashlights. Ren could now see several feet in front of her, and smiled thankfully. There were several turns and twists in the path in front of her that she wouldn't have seen otherwise.

"Thanks, Petro."

"Chu!"

Petro sounded superior as he replied, and he took a few steps forward to lead the way. His cheeks continued to glow, and fortunately, although the path was quite winding, there weren't any split pathways ahead of them. Ren and Petro both felt relieved, as Rock Tunnel didn't seem too dangerous yet.

However, suddenly there was a screeching sound and something fluttered loudly above them. Petro growled and released a Thundershock, unfortunately causing the lights from his cheeks to go out for a few seconds. When he lit back up, Ren saw that a Zubat had crashed to the cave floor in front on them.

"Oh… Just a Zubat…" Ren sighed. "I was worried for a second…"

"Pika…"

Shrugging, Petro continued to walk forward, and Ren sped up to keep up with him. The tunnel's floor sloped more and more as they walked forward, and it kept winding as well. Unfortunately, Ren started to get tired the more they walked, and consequently wasn't paying attention to where she was walking.

Ren accidentally stumbled over something, but managed to catch herself and regain her footing. However, evidently the thing she had tripped on was not so pleased, as there was the sound of dirt flying up behind her. With a cry of "Geo," a Geodude flew over Ren's head and levitated in front of her.

"Oh no!" Ren cried. After she'd been warned to watch out for Geodudes… "I know! Let's go, Venus!"

The blonde instantly grabbed Venus's Pokéball. As the Bulbasaur materialized in front of her, the Geodude glared. It grabbed a heap of nearby rocks from the cave's floor, evidently ready to hurl them at the trio.

"Try Vine Whip!"

"Bulba!"

Venus narrowed her eyes slightly as twin vines shot out of her back. The vines struck Geodude's arms, causing it to drop the stones in surprise.

"Okay… Um… Oh! Use Sleep Powder!"

Grinning eagerly, Venus let the bulb on her back spread slightly, and silver spores started to float out of it. As they drifted forward, Venus helped the spores spread by blowing on them, and Geodude blinked sleepily as the powder hit it. A few seconds later, it crashed back to the floor, and Ren sighed in relief.

"Thanks, Venus."

Venus grinned confidently as Ren recalled her. Ren then turned back to Petro, who looked surprisingly impressed by Venus's performance.

"Come on, Petro! We should hurry before we get attacked again."

"Pi—ka."

Petro reluctantly agreed, picking up his pace at once. Ren smiled thankfully as she followed after him, hoping the tunnel wouldn't go on for too much longer. She was eager to start looking around Lavender Town, after all.


	23. Chapter Twenty Two: Vs Gastly!

_Author's Note_: Well, we are now in Lavender Town… Those darned Gastly are so irritating, aren't they… Petro sure seems to think so, anyway. The chapter's kind of short, but hey, at least it makes a nice build-up for the Pokémon Tower, yes?

**Chapter Twenty Two: Vs Gastly!**

"Look, Petro… I think that's the end…"

Ren panted as she started to slow down. Petro's cheeks were still glowing, but she could see a third light coming from the distance of the small chamber of Rock Tunnel that they were in. The Pikachu scurried ahead curiously, and Ren tried to keep up with him. After a few minutes, the tunnel started to narrow out, and as they got closer to the light, Ren saw that she was right.

A small, short cave entrance was a few feet ahead of them, and Ren smiled as she ducked through it. She and Petro had taken several winding pathways through Rock Tunnel, several of which felt like they looped back in circles, so she was glad to be out. At least she hadn't tripped on any more Geodudes on the way out, but she'd still run into a few roaming ones…

As Ren stumbled out of the tunnel, she sighed when she noticed the trail ahead of her was still just as rocky as the inside of the cave. Small mountains and outcroppings still rose up around her and Petro, just like the route before Rock Tunnel. Fortunately, though, the trail ahead of them looked fairly short.

"I think we're… almost to Lavender Town," Ren sighed in relief.

"Pika!"

Nodding, Petro hurried ahead, easily jumping over a large rock in the path. Ren had to curve around it, so it was a few seconds before she caught up to the Electric-Type. Soon, the pair had followed the path between two tall hills, and Ren grinned as she paused to look around.

The path widened into a small valley surrounded by mountains. Tiny houses were perched along the rocky, unpaved ground of the town, and a Pokémon Center and a Poké Mart were right near the town's entrance. In the distance, Ren could see a large, tower-like building surrounded by dark mist.

"This must be it!"

Petro nodded absently. "Chu…"

Ren started to turn on the path leading to the Pokémon Center, and Petro followed after her. However, he kept looking over his shoulder suspiciously, and Ren suddenly felt nervous. She couldn't shake off the feeling that something was following her and Petro…

Soon, they arrived at the Pokémon Center, and Ren gave another relieved sigh as she started to open the sliding door. Before she could, though, condensation started appearing on the glass, and a translucent tongue lashed out of nowhere and licked Ren's hand. Shrieking in fright, Ren pulled her hand away and stumbled backwards, staring at the door.

Petro growled at the glass, his cheeks sparking. Ren blinked at him, still holding her hand nervously, and her eyes widened when a shadow started to take form in the glass. Seconds later, a round, gaseous shape appeared in front of her, sliding through the door. A face then appeared on the ball of gas, and its slanted eyes narrowed mischievously as it stuck out its tongue.

"Gast… ly!"

Giggling, the Gastly quickly floated forward, and Ren was more than glad to see it go. As her heartbeat started to slow back to normal, Petro was still growling. He immediately started scampering after the Ghost Pokémon, and Ren gasped.

"Petro! What are you doing?"

"Pi—ka!" he called over his shoulder, rolling his eyes before hurrying after the Gastly again. He clearly meant to say, "It made me mad and I'm chasing it!"

Petro managed to dart just below the Gastly, and his cheeks started sparking even more. He quickly released a Thunderbolt, but his aim was off just slightly, and the Gastly managed to dodge. Still chuckling, the Gastly turned around and slowly let its tongue hang out of its mouth. It then abruptly licked Petro and started floating away again.

"Chu…"

Petro started rubbing his forehead in distress, trying to get the feel of the Gastly's tongue to go away. Ren panted as she caught up to him, and looked up to see where the Gastly had gone. Fortunately, she could still see it, but just barely. It was heading towards the tower on the eastern side of Lavender Town, and as it got closer, the mist started to obscure it.

"Pika?"

Petro eventually gave up in frustration and looked up at Ren. She timidly pointed towards the tower and gulped.

"I think it went that way…"

"Ka!"

Petro grinned and started darting towards the building. Ren gasped and started to follow him again, hoping that the Electric-Type wasn't really so adamant in chasing the Gastly…

"Um, Petro… I don't think we should keep following it…"

Unfortunately, Petro seemed to be ignoring her. A few seconds later, the pair arrived at the tower, and the air suddenly seemed cooler. Ren shivered as she looked at the mist surrounding them, squinting so she could see clearly.

The tower was made of stone, and looked like it had at least five or six floors. There was a small stone door with a heavy-looking brass doorknob and knocker. Additionally, there was a small, engraved sign above the door, and when Ren got closer, she could see that it read "Pokémon Tower: May the souls of Pokémon rest in peace."

"So, is this like a Pokémon graveyard?" Ren wondered aloud, starting to get even more nervous.

"Chu," Petro nodded, as if to say, "Duh."

"O-oh… Do we have to go in? I mean, we know where the Gastly went, so…"

"Gastly!"

The Ghost-Type's face suddenly materialized in a window on the second floor. It grinned at them before vanishing, and Petro glared. He tried to jump at the doorknob, but when he realized he couldn't reach, he turned to Ren with an impatient look on his face.

"Chu!" he cried, pointing at the door.

"Okay…" Ren squeaked.

Slowly, she reached towards the doorknob and turned it. As the door creaked open, she and Petro walked through it, and Ren couldn't help feeling that she really should turn around and leave before she got into some kind of trouble.


	24. Chapter Twenty Three: Vs Haunter!

_Author's Note_: Don't you just love those creepy possessed Channelers in the Pokémon Tower? Especially with their endless Gastlys. (And one or two Haunters I think.) Anyway, Sol gets to be cool, and Gino's back temporarily…

**Chapter Twenty Three: Vs Haunter!**

_Creak… Creak…Slam!_

"P-Petro, are you really sure it was a good idea to come in here?"

Ren gulped as the Pokémon Tower's door slammed shut behind her. The wooden floor creaked as she walked forward, and the raggedy carpeting was threadbare in some places. A few various-sized coffins were sitting around the edges of the small room, and each had a square stone plaque on top of it to designate its Pokémon. Ren shivered slightly; not only was the tower creepy, but there was also a cool mist hanging in the air.

"Chu!"

Petro nodded and put on a determined look. He quickly looked from side to side, and then darted forward a few feet. Ren hurried after him, afraid she might lose him in the fog. A few minutes later, they arrived at the back of the first floor, and a wooden staircase led up to the next floor.

"Well… I guess there's nothing too bad yet," Ren squeaked. "But I don't know if we'll find that Gastly from before—"

"Pika."

Petro glanced over his shoulder and rolled his eyes at Ren. Clearly, at this point he didn't care as much about the Gastly as he had earlier… The Pikachu just wanted to go through the tower for the sake of going through it, and if he saw the Gastly again, then that was just a bonus.

"O-okay…"

Reluctantly, Ren sighed and put a foot on the staircase. The second she put her foot on the step, it creaked as well, and the blonde winced. However, she tried to go up the stairs as quickly as possible without thinking about the creaking too much.

Fortunately, the staircase was surprisingly short, so Ren and Petro arrived on the second floor fairly quickly. As they stepped onto the landing, Ren gulped again; more coffins were organized around this floor than the last. The mist also seemed a bit thicker, so it was a little harder to see where she was going.

"Pi—ka!"

Petro tried to light up his cheeks like he had in Rock Tunnel, closing his eyes in concentration. While he did manage to get them to shine a little, his lights barely shone through the fog at all. Sighing, he gave up, and the bit of electricity on his cheeks fizzled away in indignation.

"Oh well… I might be able to find my way around," Ren suggested hopefully.

As Ren tried to weave around a row of coffins, she spread her hands out slightly to make sure she wasn't about to hit anything. She nervously looked around, wondering exactly what she would find while she was in the tower. There were obviously a few Ghost-Type Pokémon there, but she hoped there weren't any _real_ ghosts…

Ren suddenly bumped into a coffin, and cried out in surprise as her knee hit the lid. Stumbling backwards, she hoped she hadn't knocked the marker off of it, and sighed in relief when she realized that she hadn't. However, just as her heartbeat started to return to normal, she saw an oddly-shaped shadow a few feet away and shrieked.

"A ghost!"

"Chu?" Petro blinked.

As the shape came into view, Ren saw that it was simply a short, squat woman wearing old-fashioned white robes. Prayer beads dangled off of her neck, and her eyes looked rather blank. At first, Ren thought that she was just there to visit an old Pokémon of hers, but then the woman's eyes focused sharply when she got closer to Ren.

"Y-you…" she choked.

"What?" Ren cried. "What did I do?"

"Spirit… Evil spirit…" the woman grumbled.

"I'm n-not a spirit!"

"Ka!"

Petro's cheeks sparked furiously—apparently, he was starting to get fed up with the woman. She was probably a medium or channeler, but she looked like she was in a trance. Ren was still nervous as the woman reached into the folds of her robe; was she going to pull out a charm or something? When she pulled out a Pokéball instead, Ren gasped.

"Be gone…" the medium whispered. "Leave this place…"

With that, she released her Pokémon—a large, spiky, gaseous Pokémon with slanted eyes and disembodied hands. It leered mischievously at Ren and Petro, and while it seemed a bit less "possessed" than its trainer, it still scared Ren just as much.

Without an order, the Haunter's eyes started to glow. A dark red light surrounded it, and the Ghost-Type blasted a Psychic at Ren and Petro. Squeaking, Ren ducked as she watched Petro stumble to the side. Petro got back to his feet and glared at Haunter, and Ren gulped. He could probably take Haunter out by himself, but just to be safe…

"C-come on, Sol!"

Ren quickly pulled the Charmander's Pokéball out of her pocket and released him. He materialized a few feet away from Petro, blinking at Haunter before nodding to the Pikachu. The pair then posed confidently as they looked up at Haunter.

"Um… Ember and Thundershock, guys!"

Petro narrowed his eyes as his cheeks began to spark. He then blasted the Thundershock at Haunter as embers started to form in Sol's mouth. When Sol launched the attack, the Thundershock and Ember combined in mid air and collided with Haunter. A small, sparking flame burned through the gaseous Pokémon, and its eyes widened as it started to mist up.

Moments later, Haunter vanished, but the combined attack took several more seconds to fizzle out. Ren blinked, wondering what exactly had happened to Haunter as its trainer suddenly groaned. The medium shuddered and fell to the floor, apparently unconscious.

"Whew, that was close…"

Sighing, Ren took Sol's Pokéball out of her pocket and turned to the Charmander to recall him. However, Sol and Petro were still looking around suspiciously, and Ren looked up curiously. A small ball of gas suddenly appeared behind Sol, and the Charmander cried in surprise as he turned around to see a slowly forming Gastly.

"Char!

Sol impulsively launched another Ember at the Ghost-Type. The attack hit Gastly directly, and the small stream of flame cut straight through it. Like Haunter, the Gastly winced and slowly seemed to evaporate as the fire hit it.

Grinning in satisfaction, Sol crossed his arms over his chest as he started to glow. After a few seconds, the light faded, and Sol was a few inches taller as well as a darker shade of red. He stretched his now-longer claws out and smirked.

"Meleon!"

"Chu?"

Petro cocked his head to the side as he looked at the newly-evolved Charmeleon. He then grinned as well, giving Sol a small high-five as Ren giggled.

"Good for you, Sol! Now, uh, come on…" Ren slowly recalled Sol and looked back at Petro. "So, um… Can we leave now, Petro? Th-this is a bit much for one day of being here…"

"You _can't_ leave."

"Whatdoes that mean?"

Ren gasped as she turned around and saw another shadow. When it came into focus though, she saw that it was Gino, surprisingly. The brunette boy looked tired, like he hadn't gotten sleep in a day or two. His usually baggy purple pants were even clinging to him from all the mist in the tower.

"What it sounds like," Gino grumbled. "I came in here two days ago, and for some reason, I can't get out. The mist gets thicker every time I think I'm close to the stairs. Once I got down to the first floor, but the door was stuck shut…"

"But we got in just a little while ago!"

"Huh?" Gino blinked. "Well… Maybe there's something that's keeping people from leaving… And it has to be on one of the top floors, probably. I haven't been able to fid anything yet, though, so I don't think _you_ could…"

"But…" Ren looked down, disheartened. "I bet if we go together, it would be easier to see what's going on!"

"Pika!" Petro added in agreement.

"All right, I suppose you have a bit of a good idea… Let's try to find the way to the next staircase."

Ren smiled, albeit nervously, as she tried to keep up with Gino and Petro. She was glad that Gino was agreeing with her for once, but… she was scared of what would come next.


	25. Chapter Twenty Four: Vs Marowak!

_Author's Note_: Yay, It's time for the ghost Marowak! She was one of my favorite FR/LG characters actually...

**Chapter Twenty Four: Vs Marowak!**

"Gi-Gino? Do you know where we are?"

Ren and Gino had taken at least three flights of stairs, and each floor had more coffins laid around it. The mist was also thicker on each floor, so it was getting harder and harder to see. At least they hadn't seen any more channelers or run into any ghosts yet...

"Somewhere on the fifth floor, duh."

"Chu..."

Petro seemed to be getting more impatient; in fact, he even kept looking over his shoulder like he wanted to leave. Of course, if Gino really was right, then they couldn't leave anyway.

As Ren carefully followed Gino around another row of coffins, a staircase suddenly loomed ahead of them, and they realized they'd finally reached the back of the room. Despite the fact that the stairs looked like they were actually in good condition, they creaked louder than any of the previous staircases had. When the trio reached the top of the staircase, the mist was even thicker than before. However, there didn't appear to be many coffins laying around this floor...

"Um, Gino? Have you been on this floor before?"

"I don't think so," he frowned. "But... Don't you feel like something is watching you?"

"Ka!" Petro nodded.

Ren paused, and a few seconds later she felt the hair on the back of her neck start to prickle. She could almost feel a pair of eyes boring into her back, and their was a strange, angry tension in the air.

"Y-yeah," Ren gulped in agreement. "What is it?"

"I don't know," Gino replied crossly.

A cool breeze abruptly blew by as they started to walk forward. Ren stopped and wrapped her arms around herself, and Gino looked back at her with an irritated look on his face.

"Hey!"

"I-I'm cold," Ren stammered. "And this is really starting to get creepy! Can we leave now?"

"I told you, we can't..."

Ren turned around, blinking, when she heard a sliding noise. A large, coffin-like door had suddenly slid over the staircase they'd just climbed, and a path through the fog suddenly cleared to the stairs in the back of the room. Ren gasped in surprise, but Gino just glared.

"Well, come on!"

"But... But... What about..."

"Pika!"

Groaning, Petro rolled his eyes at Ren as he scampered after Gino. Ren nervously followed after them, and as they got closer to the stairs, a shadow started to form in front of them.

"I-Is it another ghost?" Ren gulped.

"No... look."

Gino narrowed his eyes and instinctively reached for a Pokéball as the figure started to solidify. It formed into a Marowak, and instead of the usual single bone, it was holding two.

"Intruders... You shall not leave alive..."

A voice echoed around the room as the Marowak threw one of her bones forward. Ren shrieked as she, Gino, and Petro ducked. Gino immediately threw out one of his Pokéballs, releasing his Eevee.

"W-Will that work?" Ren squeaked.

"It should... Marowak looks solid," Gino frowned. "Eevee, use Tackle!"

Eevee nodded and dashed forward. However, before he could get close enough, Marowak dismissively hit him with her bone, sending him flying backwards. Petro growled and started to step forward, but Ren shook her head.

"Petro... I don't want you to have to fight at a disadvantage... I'll use Venus!"

Ren released the Bulbasaur, and she yawned as she materialized next to her trainer. Marowak turned toward Venus menacingly, but the Grass-Type looked surprisingly unconcerned. As Marowak raised her bones, Ren got an idea.

"Um, try Vine Whip!"

Two thin vines quickly rose out of Venus's bulb, and she wrapped them around Marowak's projectiles. The Ground-Type looked surprised as Venus then lifted her into the air and threw her back towards the stairs. Glaring as Marowak started to get back up, Venus shuddered slightly and started to glow. Seconds later, she was several inches taller, and her bulb had split into a flower.

"Ivy... saur!"

Several more vines started to slide out of Venus's flower for another Vine Whip. Marowak didn't have time to react, and was hit by all of Venus's vines. After the last one hit, Marowak wobbled, and seemed to be transparent.

"I see... your determination... perhaps humans... are not all bad..."

As the voice echoed around the room again, Marowak slowly evaporated. Gino and Ren both blinked as Venus suddenly pointed one of her vines towards the stairs leading to the seventh floor.

"Ivy...!"

The two trainers hurried over to the stairs, and they heard a faint crying sound. Looking up, they saw a small Cubone at the top of the steps with a few tears falling from its eyes.

"I-I wonder what happened to it..." Ren said softly.

"Well, it should be fairly obvious, right? I'm guessing a human accidentally killed the Marowak or something, and she couldn't rest in peace knowing that the baby Cubone was still here."

"O-Oh."

"In any case... The mist looks like it's clearing up, and look... the door over the stairs just slid away. I'm leaving."

Ren looked towards the staircase leading back to the fifth floor and saw that the door had indeed vanished. However, as Gino recalled Eevee and started to walk away, Ren started to open her mouth.

"Wait, Gino! Um... I just want to say... thanks."

"...It was nothing."

With that, Gino walked back down the stairs, leaving Ren standing there with Venus and Petro. Sighing, Ren tried to smile to Venus as she recalled her. Then, she and Petro looked up at Cubone again. Its cries had reduced to sniffles, and it looked down at them with a relieved look. As it started to walk away, Ren smiled.

"I guess it was agood thing that we came here, Petro!"

"Chu!" Petro grinned.

Feeling a bit better about the trip, Ren hurried down the stairs as well with Petro darting after her.


	26. Chapter Twenty Five: Vs Kadabra!

_Author's Note_: Okay, so I realize evolving three Pokémon in three chapters is kind of strange, but I like Igloo. Besides, it lets an interesting event happen between Lavender and Saffron...

**Chapter Twenty Four: Vs Kadabra!**

"Whew... I'm glad we got through the Pokémon Tower safely."

"Chu."

Ren sighed as she and Petro approached Lavender's Pokémon Center. They'd just left the tower, and she definitely wanted to rest before going anywhere else. Besides, Venus probably needed rest as well after the battle with Marowak...

Pushing open the building's glass door, Ren smiled when she saw that the lobby wasn't too crowded. There were only a couple trainers hanging around, and most of them were clustered around the bookshelf in the back of the room. Ren gratefully handed her Pokéballs to the nurse behind the counter, and Petro reluctantly hopped onto the counter as well. The nurse laughed as Petro followed her into the small room behind the counter, and Ren giggled as well as she turned away.

Right then, the blonde's stomach growled, and she blushed slightly. She hadn't realized how hungry she was, and Ren hurriedly looked for the hallway leading to the cafeteria, hoping it would be uncrowded as well.

* * *

"Pika!"

Surprisingly, Petro was actually waiting for Ren to unroll her sleeping bag before crawling in himself. Ren had just gotten her Pokémon back from the nurse, and she'd decided to go on to sleep. Slipping off her sneakers, Ren slid into the sleeping bag, and Petro curled up near her head.

"Petro?" Ren yawned.

"Chu?"

"Um, wake me up early tomorrow."

"Ka?"

Ren closed her eyes as she replied. "I, uh, just want to get started early. I'm not sc-scared of Lavender Town, or anything!"

"Pika."

Petro groaned as Ren squeezed her eyes closed more tightly. Shrugging, the Pikachu yawned and started to nod off himself out of boredom...

* * *

"Ow, Petro..."

Ren winced the next morning as she walked out of the cafeteria. Petro had woken her up early as promised, so she'd gotten her toast in the short breakfast line quickly enough... But he was still poking her rather sharply.

"Chu."

Shrugging, Petro yawned, and then suddenly stopped poking her. Ren sighed as she opened the Pokémon Center's door, hoping that the novelty had worn off.

As she and Petro walked outside, Ren tried to remember the map she'd seen in the Center. Celadon City was west of Lavender, and there was a gym there, so she should probably head there next. Ren smiled as she started walking towards the west end of Lavender Town. Suddenly, there was a small break in the mountains that surrounded the town that the dirt trail cut through, and Ren walked a bit faster as Petro scampered ahead of her.

Surprisingly, just a few feet away from Lavender Town, thick grass began to appear along the path, and a few small bushes and trees were growing as well. Petro grinned as he started to jump over a bush, but suddenly, a blast of energy sent him flying back towards Ren. The blond gasped as she darted over to the Electric-Type.

"Petro, are you okay? What was that?"

"Pika..."

Petro winced as he sat up and glared at the bush he'd just run into. It rustled, and a large, yellow, human-shaped Pokémon appeared behind it.

"Kadabra..." it mumbled to itself.

It turned around and started to walk away, but Petro jumped up and started growling. The Kadabra looked over its shoulder disinterestedly and kept walking. Petro tried to scamper after it, but he abruptly clutched his head and looked dizzy. Kadabra turned around all the way, and its eyes looked mischeivous.

"No, Petro! Don't attack it," Ren gasped, reaching for a different Pokéball. "Go, Igloo!"

The Squirtle materialized next to Ren, looking calmly at the Kadabra. It dismissvely raised its spoon, and another blast of energy shot out of it.

"Um, Igloo, try Water Gun!"

Nodding, Igloo quickly shot a stream of water out of his mouth. The water collided with the aura, amd the two attacks evaporated as they collided. Igloo sighed and tried to shoot another Water Gun at Kadabra. Fortunately, the attack hit that time, striking Kadabra in the stomach and making it tumble backwards.

As the Psychic-Type stood back up, it glared, and its eyes stareted to light up. Ren and Igloo both bulped as it launched two rainbow-colored Psybeams towards them, and Igloo was hit dead-on. He withdrew into his shell just as the attack hit, but he was spun around in the air before he landed. Pushing his head and limbs out of his shell, Igloo stood up, panting.

The Water-Type began glowing as he shot yet another Water Gun at Kadabra, and it blinked in surprise, unable to dodge. As it stood back up, it was now looking at a taller, darker-blue turtle with a fluffy tail and ears.

"War... tortle," Igloo said matter-of-factly, calmly crossing his arms.

"Ra?"

Kadabra instantly folded its hands and surrounded itself with a pale aura. Seconds later, it vanished, and Ren, Petro, and Igloo all sighed.

"You did really well, though, Igloo," Ren smiled, recalling the newly-evolved Wartortle. "Um... Are you feeling better now, Petro?"

"Chu."

Petro jumped up and grinned, this time managing to stay on his feet. Ren grinned as well in relief.

"All right! Let's get going then, Petro."

"Pika!"

Petro dashed ahead of Ren, and as she scrambled after him, she sighed and thought she really should be used to that by now.


	27. Chapter Twenty Six: Vs Pikachu II!

_Author's Note_: Another relatively short chapter, but at least Ren has arrived in Celadon City. Also, the Game Corner is always fun…

**Chapter Twenty Six: Vs Pikachu II!**

"I guess… this is… Celadon City?"

Ren paused to catch her breath as she arrived at the end of the dirt trail, and Petro surprisingly stopped as well. The path from Lavender Town had been quite long, but it was finally starting to merge into a sidewalk. There were still a lot of trees around them, but Ren could see a dew tall buildings in the distance.

"Chu!" Petro cried, stifling a yawn.

"Yeah… We should look for the Pokémon Center first," Ren agreed.

Soon after stepping onto the perfectly-trimmed sidewalk, Ren could already tell that Celadon City was huge. Now that she could see around the trees a bit more, she saw several large apartment buildings and a few street vendors. Even the Pokémon Center, which was fortunately close to the town's entrance, seemed to be larger than the others that she'd stayed at.

Hurrying over to the Pokémon Center, Ren slid the glass door open and headed over to the counter. Fortunately, there were several attendants behind it due to the large amount of trainers in the lobby, so Ren didn't have to wait too long before handing her Pokémon to one of them. Petro obligingly hopped over the counter as well, sighing.

As Ren headed towards the Center's cafeteria, she couldn't help wondering why there were so many people getting their Pokémon healed. After taking a sandwich from the lunch line and sitting down, however, she managed to overhear the reason. There was a small group of dejected-looking trainers at the table behind hers, and they seemed to be discussing gym matches.

"I fought Erika this morning, and she totally wiped me out," a girl sighed.

"At least you were allowed into the gym!" a boy cried. "They're all girls there, you know, and they said they'd only let a _gentleman_ in."

"Well, just look at you," another boy said dryly.

"Hey!"

"Well, I brought my Vulpix with me and everything, and I still lost…"

"I almost won, but her Tangela put my Farfetch'd to sleep. I bet I could win if I tried again tomorrow."

"Lucky you. I'm going to go hang out the Game Corner tomorrow instead."

_Game Corner_? Ren wondered, eating the last bit of the peanut butter sandwich. _I wonder what that is_?

The blond girl stood up to throw away her wrapper, wondering if she had time to look around. She should at least wait for her Pokémon to be healed, and it was already getting late… She could look at the Game Corner the next day.

_It sounds fun… I bet Petro would enjoy it, at least…_

Ren arrived in the lobby a few minutes later and sank down in one of the large couches. She then reached for a copy of _Pokémon Magazine_ on the nearby end table, deciding to read as she waited…

* * *

"Pika!"

Ren looked up from the magazine as Petro jumped in front of her, balancing her five other Pokéballs on her head. Gasping, she put down _Pokémon Journal_ and took her Pokéballs as she stood up.

"Petro… Oh well. Do you want to go on to sleep?"

"Chu," he replied, shrugging.

"Okay, then…"

Ren started walking towards the Center's common room, and Petro scampered after her. As they entered the room and Ren took a sleeping bag, she noticed that there were a lot fewer people than she'd expected. However, there still wasn't a lot of free space, but Ren managed to find a place to lay down her sleeping bag in the middle of the room. As she crawled into it, she looked over at Petro.

"Hey, Petro… Earlier I heard about this place called the Game Corner… I kind of want to go tomorrow."

"Pika!"

Petro nodded as he curled up into a ball, and Ren grinned as she closed her eyes. At least he seemed excited about her suggestion…

* * *

"Chu!"

The next morning, Ren woke up to Petro tugging on her shoulder. Yawning, she crawled out of her sleeping bag, and followed him out to the lobby. Surprisingly, she wasn't too hungry, so she turned to Petro curiously.

"Are you hungry or do you want to go?"

"Ka!"

Petro grinned and pointed to the front door. As he scampered towards it, Ren paused to look at the map of Celadon posted near it. The building marked as the Game Corner looked pretty close to the Pokémon Center, and Ren smiled in relief as she pushed open the door.

Ren quickly followed the correct turns in the sidewalk as she headed for the Game Corner. Petro was always a few steps ahead of her, and he skidded to a stop when they reached the large, neon building. A lit sign above the door read, "Celadon Game Corner," and Ren blinked; the sign's lights alternated in color and blinked back at her. Shaking her head, Ren followed Petro inside.

The interior of the Game Corner wasn't as bright as the outside. There were brightly colored slot machines in the room, most of which were occupied, but they were offset by plain tiling and a dull gray service counter in the back. Petro grinned and quickly hopped over to a slot machine, and Ren sat at the one next to him.

"Do you really want to try, Petro?"

"Chu!"

As Petro nodded, Ren sighed and handed him a few coins. She then turned to her own slot machine and inserted a coin of her own. When Ren pulled the lever on the side of the machine, it whirred to life, and the three rows of pictures in the center started flashing. Nervously, Ren pulled the lever again, and the first row slowed to a stop. She then halted the second and third rows, but unfortunately, nothing matched up.

Sighing, Ren inserted more money into the slot machine and tried again. The next three times she tried, she still didn't get anything to match up. She almost stopped, but then decided to try again. Closing her eyes as she pulled the lever, she suddenly opened them again as she heard a dinging noise. She'd managed to get three cherries lined up diagonally, and eight coins rolled out of the side of the machine.

"Wow, Petro, look! I won something! Did you get anything yet… huh?"

Ren suddenly stopped as she looked over at Petro. The Pikachu had drawn a small crowd, and he seemed pleased with the attention as he inserted more coins into his slot machine. Blinking, Ren looked at him more carefully and realized why so many people were looking at him. Petro had evidently managed to hit the jackpot prize several times already, and he had a huge pile of money behind him. As he pulled the lever again, his machine lit up and rang loudly as several more coins rolled out of it.

"Oh… Petro… You're so lucky," Ren sighed, listening to the crowd cheer. "I wish I could win that much too…"

Smiling slightly, Ren clapped along with everyone else, trying to forget about her own small stack of coins.


	28. Chapter Twenty Seven: Vs Raticate!

_Author's Notes_: Those floor tiles in the Game Corner's basement are fun, right? Anyway, this chapter turned out a bit short…

**Chapter Twenty Seven: Vs Raticate!**

"Pi—ka!"

Petro groaned as Ren gently pulled him away from the slot machine. By now, most of the people who had been watching the Pikachu had returned to their own seats, but Ren had gotten embarrassed from all the attention. Fortunately, though, she'd managed to gather up most of the money that Petro had earned.

"I'm sorry, Petro," Ren sighed. "But there's still other stuff to do… Like going to that gym I heard about yesterday…"

"Chu," Petro agreed reluctantly.

However, seconds later, he perked up, raising his nose and scampering away. Ren gulped and tried to catch up to him as he darted behind a bookshelf in the back of the Game Corner.

"Petro… Not now, please…"

Ren skidded to a stop in the surprisingly large gap behind the shelf. She gulped when she saw the Electric-Type glaring at a confused-looking man in a black uniform.

"Does this Pikachu belong to you?" he asked suspiciously.

"Um, yeah… Sorry…"

_Wh-Why does that uniform look familiar though? It's like… those guys from Mt. Moon…_ Ren thought nervously.

"Well, uh, we'll just go now," Ren squeaked. "Right, Petro?"

"Chu!"

As Petro protested, sparks flew from his cheeks. The man glared back, quickly reaching for a Pokéball.

"You want to play rough, huh? Go, Raticate!"

A large, brown, rat-like Pokémon materialized next to him, its oversized teeth sticking awkwardly out of its mouth. Its whiskers twitched as it jumped away from Petro's Thundershock, and it looked pleased with itself. Petro looked even more frustrated, though.

"Ka!"

He launched another Thundershock at Raticate, this time hitting it dead-on. It tumbled over, slightly singed but clearly not knocked out yet. Raticate managed to pull itself back up, but its trainer abruptly recalled it.

"What am I doing, messing around with some kid…" he grumbled. "Still, just to be safe, I should warn Boss…"

With that, he turned around and walked down the staircase that was behind him. Ren blinked, not having realized that the staircase was even there. Petro shrugged at her, and then hurried toward the staircase.

"No, Petro! We don't even know what's down there…"

Ren scrambled after Petro as her headed down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, they were apparently in some kind of warehouse, and the air was a bit musty. Boxes lined the room in odd patterns, like a maze, and Ren gulped again.

"I-I really think we should go back…"

"Chu!" Petro replied, shaking his head.

"Okay…" Ren gave in. "I guess since we're already here…"

Ren took several steps forward, and Petro was practically tripping over her heels. Suddenly, however, Ren felt herself spinning forward. Her eyes widened as she approached a box, but then her direction suddenly changed. She slowly spun to a stop a few feet later, and she was gasping for breath.

"Whew… That was close… W-Wait, Petro, where are you?"

"Pika!"

After a few moments, Petro came whirling to a halt and stumbled into Ren's legs. He was obviously dizzy, but had a confident grin on his face.

"Oh…" Ren sighed. "Good. Now I wonder what that was…"

Turning around, Ren looked at the floor behind her, and saw floor tiles with arrows on them. Blinking, Ren knelt down and touched one, and it started spinning.

"I think I get it," she said slowly. "The floor tiles send you in the direction the arrow is pointing…"

"Chu!"

Petro tapped Ren on the knee to get her attention, and then pointed to another two sets of arrowed tiles in front of them. One of the sets was pointing towards the way they'd just come from, while the other set was pointing forward. Taking a deep breath, Ren stepped forward.

"Well, we haven't been this way yet, so…"

Then she was spinning again, and Petro was giggling as he spun along behind her. After several more near-miss encounters with more boxes, Ren finally slowed to a stop, and Petro once again crashed into her leg. Ren blinked and shook her head, trying to get her dizziness to go away. When she opened her eyes, she saw that she was standing in front of an elevator.

"I wonder where this goes," she said curiously.

"Pika!"

Grinning, Petro jumped ahead of Ren and pressed the down arrow on the elevator. After waiting for a little while, Ren heard the elevator ding softly, and the door slid open. She and Petro stepped in, and Ren suddenly felt scared as the door slid closed.

All she could do now was hope that Petro hadn't gotten her into something dangerous.


	29. Chapter Twenty Eight: Vs Persian!

_Author's Note_: Hey… I get to put in Giovanni now. Persian is far better (or at least prettier) than Kangaskhan, so Giovanni is going to follow his Yellow team. This chapter's a bit on the short side as well, but I still kind of like how it turned out…

**Chapter Twenty Eight: Vs Persian!**

"Um, Petro… We've been going down for a while…"

"Pika."

Petro sighed in response to Ren, and he was clearly bored. The elevator had indeed been going down for a while, causing Ren to get nervous. They really had no idea where or when they were going to get out, but Petro wasn't nearly as scared as Ren was.

Suddenly, however, the elevator finally came to a stop. After a soft dinging sound, the door opened, and Ren stumbled out into what looked like a rather large, classy office. The floor was covered in a white shag carpet, and several black-and-white leather chairs were around the room. There was a large ebony desk in the middle of the room, and a man in a black suit was sitting behind it with a Persian curled up at his feet.

"Excuse me. We don't take child members," he said tersely, not looking up from the document he was signing.

"But… uh…" Ren stammered. "I was just…"

"Oh, all right. I suppose if you really want to do something, then you can deliver this document for me. Take it to Earl and Ray in the conference room on the third basement floor."

The man sighed and capped his pen as he handed the sheet of paper to Ren. It was written in small, precise handwriting, but it was still difficult to read. The signature at the end of it, though, was slightly larger and easier to read: _Giovanni_. However, Ren shook her head suddenly, and she timidly set the paper back down on the desk.

"Err… That's not really what I meant… I-I'm just kind of here by accident…"

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

By now, Giovanni was starting to look suspicious instead of angry. Similarly, his Persian yawned and opened its eyes, glaring at Ren. The blonde gulped, but Petro looked defiant.

"I… I was just in the Game Corner, and then I came down here," Ren squeaked, biting her lip.

"I see. I received a report from one of the grunts that there was a rather pitiful-looking girl wandering around… Now I see who he meant. I'll just have to get rid of you myself."

Sighing again, Giovanni snapped his fingers. Persian slowly uncurled itself and stretched, blinking for a moment as it looked at Ren. Then, it languidly reached out with its claws, and Ren shrieked as she stumbled backwards.

Suddenly, sparks exploded from Petro's cheeks, and he jumped in front of Ren. He released the Thunderbolt, causing Persian to screech as it was singed. The cat Pokémon tumbled backwards, but quickly got back up, licking its fur in irritation.

"Hm… This could be interesting," Giovanni muttered. "Keep going, Persian."

Persian reluctantly lashed out with its claws again, but Petro easily jumped out of the way. He then released another Thunderbolt, and Persian hissed as it was thrown backwards. It was still sparking as it collapsed, and Giovanni frowned.

"Hmph. Oh well. You will be no match for these two… Amuse me, will you?"

The dark-haired man pulled two gold-and-diamond encrusted Pokéballs from a drawer in his desk, and Ren wondered how many more he had in there. However, she gulped when she saw the two Pokémon that Giovanni had selected. An Onix and a Rhyhorn materialized in front of the desk, and even Petro unconsciously stepped backwards.

"I, um… I guess I'll use Igloo and Venus then…"

Ren hesitantly released the Wartortle and Ivysaur. Igloo looked at the two Rock-Types, but Venus looked at them impatiently.

"Rock Throw," Giovanni droned.

"Use, uh, Vine Whip and Surf!"

Both Rhyhorn and Onix launched several rocks toward Ren's Pokémon. Venus quickly raised several vines from the flower on her back and knocked the rocks away. Then Igloo crouched down and started shooting water out of his mouth. He formed a large wave, and it crashed down onto the two other Pokémon.

Rhyhorn crashed into Onix and toppled over, causing Onix to sway slightly. The smaller Rock Pokémon looked like it had fainted, but Onix still had some energy left. Ren looked uncertainly at Onix, wondering what it would do.

"Bind, Onix."

Onix stretched its tail out with surprising speed and wrapped up both Igloo and Venus. It raised them up in the air, glaring at them as it started to squeeze. Ren gasped, trying to think of something, but then blinked as Onix roared in pain. It immediately dropped Ren's Pokémon and fell backwards, and Ren caught a glimpse of ice in its mouth. Igloo had to have used Ice Beam on it when it lifted them up, and he looked pleased with himself.

"Hm… You are… intriguing for such a small child. If we ever meet again, however, know that I will be prepared."

With Giovanni's warning, the lights abruptly went out. They came back on a few seconds later, and Giovanni had vanished, along with all of his Pokémon.

"What happened?" Ren asked slowly. "That was weird… We better hurry out of here, guys."

Petro, Igloo, and Venus all nodded back to her. Ren recalled Venus and Igloo, and she and Petro hurried back to the elevator. When they stepped in, Ren held her breath, hoping the ride back up wouldn't seem as long as the ride down had…


	30. Chapter Twenty Nine: Vs Tangela!

_Author's Notes_: Well, thankfully, this chapter is a bit longer than the last one. And we get to meet Erika this chapter. She's one of my favorite Gym Leaders from Fire Red and Leaf Green, and speaking of which, that's the team she'll be following (as opposed to her Yellow Team).

**Chapter Twenty Nine: Vs Tangela!**

"Whew… That was close."

"Pika…"

Ren sighed as she arrived back on the first floor of the Game Corner. Fortunately, when she and Petro had gotten out of the elevator, they'd found a row of the arrow tiles that led straight back to the stairs. Now, there weren't too many people in the Game Corner, and it didn't look like anyone had noticed her walking out from behind the bookshelf.

"Let's go to the Pokémon Center, Petro. I-I'm a bit tired."

Petro nodded reluctantly, and the pair headed towards the brightly-colored front door. It creaked a bit as Ren opened it, and she and Petro walked out of the building as quickly as possible. Ren smiled in relief as she closed the door behind her.

"And tomorrow, we can go to the gym!" she said hopefully.

"Chu!"

Petro grinned, looking a bit more excited as he scampered ahead. Ren smiled as she hurried after him, glad that he looked excited about something.

* * *

Ren yawned as she sat down in the Pokémon Center's cafeteria. Fortunately, since it was still fairly early in the evening, the line hadn't been too long. She and Petro were currently sharing a bowl of rice, although Petro was eating most of it.

As Ren took the last bite of the rice, Petro frowned slightly. However, he still followed after her as she stood up to throw the plastic bowl away. When they got to the cafeteria door and started walking towards the common room, Petro stifled a yawn as well, and Ren giggled.

"I guess you're worn out too, Petro. It's a good thing we're going to bed early."

"Ch-Chu," Petro agreed reluctantly.

Entering the common room, Ren took one of the last remaining provided sleeping bags; there was a surprisingly large amount of trainers there already. Ren looked around the crowded room nervously before finally finding a spot to lay the sleeping bag down. She unrolled it and crawled inside, and Petro curled up near her head. The Pikachu fell asleep almost immediately, and Ren smiled as she closed her eyes and started to drift off.

* * *

"Pika."

Ren yawned and sat up as Petro woke her up, as usual. This time, instead of toast, he was carrying a pair of biscuits. The blonde girl sighed as Petro handed one of them to her.

"We really should be eating in the cafeteria, Petro…"

"Chu."

Petro shrugged, taking a bite out of his breakfast as Ren crawled out of her sleeping bag. They stepped around the few sleeping trainers left in the room, eating as they walked into the lobby. Ren paused before leaving the Pokémon Center, looking at the map near the door.

"Okay, it says the gym is a few blocks away, so it shouldn't take too long to find."

"Ka!"

Petro grinned as he followed Ren outside, and Ren smiled back as she closed the door behind her. Hopefully, she'd be able to find the gym quickly…

* * *

"F-Finally, we found it…"

Ren panted, out of breath, as she arrived in front of the gym. It was a large glass building that resembled a greenhouse, and flower wreaths were hung on either side of the door. Despite the fact that the direct distance from the Pokémon Center wasn't that long, she and Petro had had to take several detours around flower stands and various other buildings.

Unlike Ren, however, Petro barely looked tired. He darted over to the door and jumped up to the handle. Ren giggled slightly as she watched him try to reach it, and when she caught her breath, she pushed the door open herself.

She was admittedly a bit surprised when she entered. The gym was apparently directly on the ground, as it had a grassy flooring with a few dirt patches in some places. In the front of the gym, there were a few small tables with wreaths and flower arrangements on them, and there were a couple of women sitting behind the tables with change boxes.

"Oh, hello, sweetie," one of them gushed. "Are you here for some flowers?"

"Bellsprout!"

The woman's Bellsprout raised a small pot of flowers up in one of its vines, and Petro looked at both the Bellsprout and the flowers rather dubiously. Ren, however, nervously shook her head.

"No, um, I'm looking for the Gym Leader…" she trailed off.

"Oh, really?" the woman blinked. "You just look a bit young! And Erika is out right now."

"It's all right, Rose. I'm right here."

A woman with short, dark hair walked through the door right then, straightening the sleeves of her pink-and-yellow kimono. She smiled as she looked at Ren, and the blonde felt a bit less nervous.

"So, you would like a battle, correct? I'm ready any time, if you wish to start right away."

"Uh, is that really okay?"

"Of course it is. Here, let's step away from the tables, shall we?"

Ren followed Erika until they were near the back of the gym. There were a few small trees and shrubs planted directly into the gym's floor, but a part from that, the area was mostly clear. Erika carefully reached into the folds of her kimono for a Pokéball and paused before she released her Pokémon.

"Is a three-on-three all right with you, Miss…?"

"Oh, err, I'm Ren. And yeah, that's okay."

"Fine. I will lead with Tangela."

Erika released a large, round Pokémon with thick vines covering its body. Its eyes and feet were visible, and it looked like it would be much smaller if it hadn't been for the vines. Petro started to step forward to fight it, but Ren shook her head.

"I… I think I'll start with Sol."

The Charmeleon materialized next to Ren, flexing his claws and swinging his tail slightly. Tangela looked a bit nervous, but Erika looked a bit calmer.

"Okay, Tangela, try Vine Whip and Constrict."

Tangela slowly extended two of its vines, and then suddenly rammed them into Sol. The startled Fire-Type stumbled backwards, and Tangela took its chance to wrap its vines around Sol. As it lifted him up in the air, it further bound Sol, causing it to draw him slightly closer to itself. Ren suddenly had an idea, and Sol seemed to realize what she was thinking.

"Sol, use Flamethrower!"

Eagerly, Sol breathed the flames down at Tangela. As the embers came in contact with the Grass-Type's vines, they quickly spread, and Tangela's eyes widened. It tried to put out the flames by hitting them with some of its other vines, but that only caused the fire to spread. Gasping, Erika quickly reached for Tangela's Pokéball, recalling it.

"Oh, my… That was quite surprising," she murmured. "I believe I'll use Victreebel next."

Erika released a large, yellow, bell-shaped Pokémon with a long vine growing from its back. Victreebel leered as it opened its large mouth, but Sol didn't look intimidated at all.

"Victreebel, lead with Razor Leaf."

"Uh, counter with Ember, Sol!"

The Grass-and-Poison-Type launched several leaves from its mouth, and they blasted towards Sol. Sol responded by shooting a few small coals from his mouth, and he managed to hit most of the leaves, burning them. Only a few of the leaves reached him, and he easily slashed them away with his claws.

"Hm… Try a Sludge Bomb now."

"Fl-Flamethrower again!"

Victreebel stretched its mouth open a bit farther, and launched a large purple ball of sludge towards the Fire-Type. Sol immediately replied with a Flamethrower, and Ren closed her eye in nervousness as the two attacks collided. When she opened them, she saw that both Pokémon had been knocked out. Apparently, their attacks had hit at the same time, as Victreebel looked slightly singed and Sol was covered in sludge.

Ren and Erika both sighed as they recalled their Pokémon. Erika reached for her third and final Pokéball, releasing a particularly small Vileplume. After a brief pause, Ren released Rex, and the Nidorino glared as he pointed his horn toward Vileplume.

"You're doing pretty well, Ren," Erika complimented. "But… I have had this Vileplume for quite a while, you see. Vileplume, use Solarbeam, please."

"Rex, try Sludge Bomb!"

Vileplume quickly released a lime-green beam from the flower on its head. Rex hesitated, looking at the Solarbeam defiantly, before launching the Sludge Bomb from his horn. The two attacks collided, but a bit of the Sludge Bomb managed to hit Vileplume. Surprised, it stumbled backwards and crashed to the floor. It didn't look like it was ready to faint yet, but its heavy flower prevented it from standing back up.

"Um, use Double Kick now, Rex!"

Rex more-than-willingly leapt forward, spinning around when he reached Vileplume. He struck it with each of his hind legs, causing it to completely topple over onto the floor. It closed its eyes, knocked out.

Erika smiled acceptingly as she recalled Vileplume and Ren withdrew Rex. "Ah… That happens with Vileplume fairly often… Congratulations, Ren."

"Err, thanks, Erika!"

Erika pulled a flower-shaped badge out of her sleeve and handed it to Ren. Smiling, Ren slipped it into her pocket with the rest of her badges.

"There are two other gyms near here as well, in Saffron and Fuchsia," Erika added. "Good luck with them!"

"Okay! I'll try!"

Ren's smile grew as she walked back towards the door with Petro in tow, but she blushed slightly as the flower-selling ladies clapped for her.


	31. Chapter Thirty: Vs Snorlax!

_Author's Notes_: Yay, it's Snorlax… And yes, I know I changed his location, and for two reasons. One, it's really a better idea to go to Fuchsia first anyway, unless you over-level. Two, this way I can save Saffron for later, because I didn't want to put in Silph Co. too soon. And this chapter turned out pretty short, but I'll try to make the next one longer. (Besides, at least the last one was longer than this… Eh.)

**Chapter Thirty: Vs Snorlax!**

"Pika…"

Petro sighed as he jumped up on the Pokémon Center's couch next to Ren. The blonde girl had just handed Sol and Rex's Pokéballs to the nurse and had sat down to wait to get them back. Ren blinked at Petro, and then sighed as well.

"It's okay, Petro… I'll try to use you in my next Gym Leader fight, okay?"

"Chu."

Nodding but frowning slightly, Petro curled up onto a ball and closed his eyes. Blinking again, Ren eventually curled her legs underneath her and grabbed a Pokémon Journal that had been left on the couch's arm. As she flipped through the pages, Ren tried to avoid falling asleep as well while she waited.

* * *

"Ka!"

Ren blinked as she looked down at Petro; she was still reading the Pokémon Journal and hadn't realized that the Pikachu had left. As usual, he was holding her Pokéballs, although fortunately he wasn't balancing them on his head this time. Since there were only two of them, he could hold one in each hand.

"Thanks, Petro!"

Smiling, Ren put her Pokéballs into her pocket. Closing the Pokémon Journal, she stretched and stood up, and she and Petro walked over to the Center's door. Pausing, she checked the map one more time, looking to see where she could go next. There were two cities shown on the map that Celadon was in between; one to the east and one to the west.

"Hm… Well… We can go to Saffron City or Fuchsia City," Ren thought aloud. "But I guess Saffron looks closer… Do you want to go there, Petro?"

"Chu!" Petro nodded.

"All right!"

The Pikachu scurried after Ren as she walked over to the Center's glass door and opened it. She blinked after walking towards the east side of town, however. There was a large group of trainers standing at the edge of the path, and they looked upset about something. Curious, Ren looked down at Petro and then the two hurried over to the crowd.

"Um… Excuse me…" Ren asked nervously. "What's going on?"

A tall, dark-haired boy turned around with an exasperated look on his face. "There's a Snorlax blocking the path up there, and its been there for about an hour or two. None of us can get it to move."

"Oh… uh… Really?"

"Yeah, really. You want to try or something?"

"I guess I can…"

Ren managed to squeeze around the other trainers, and her eyes widened when she got to the front of the group. A large, round, black-and-tan Pokémon was simply lying in the middle of the path, taking up the whole space that led out to the next route. The trees around it were too thick to go through, so the road really was blocked off…

Two of the other trainers had their Pokémon out, but they looked worn out. The girl sighed as she recalled her Pidgeotto, but the boy frowned and left his Raticate out.

"Ratty, try a Quick Attack!"

"Rat!"

Raticate glared as it jumped forward in an attempt to crash into Snorlax. However, the Rat Pokémon merely collided with Snorlax's round stomach, bouncing back and landing on the ground instead of doing any damage. The group groaned as the boy scowled and recalled Raticate. Everyone started to turn around to go back to Celadon, but Ren quickly nodded at Petro.

"Um… Petro, use Thunderbolt!"

Turning back around, the assembly blinked in surprise as Petro eagerly shot the electricity from his cheeks. The attack hit the Normal-Type, leaving a small mark on its side. Yawning, Snorlax slowly raised a hand and rubbed the bruise, and there was silence as everyone held their breaths in anticipation. However, seconds later, Snorlax laid its head back down and started snoring lightly.

"Ah, never mind…"

"I guess we really can't do anything."

"Let's just go on to Fuchsia."

The trainers started muttering as they walked away, and Ren bit her lip as she looked down at Petro. He shrugged, and started following the group as well. Ren trailed after him after a few moments, and Petro stopped for a second and looked over his shoulder.

"Maybe we should just go to Fuchsia too… We can probably go to Saffron eventually…"

"Pika," Petro replied, nodding.

"Oh well. Let's stop at the Pokémon Center again for lunch, okay?"

"Chu!"

Petro hurried up as he rounded the turn in the path, heading for the Center, and Ren giggled as she tried to keep up with him.


	32. Chapter Thirty One: Vs Weezing!

_Author's Note:_ Yeah… Cycling Road and stuff. Since Ren doesn't have a bike, obviously, she's borrowing one. And there are all those fun bikers.

**Chapter Thirty One: Vs Weezing!**

Ren yawned as she stood up from the table she was sitting at. She and Petro were in the Pokémon Center's cafeteria, and they'd just finished eating a bowl of rice, although as usual Petro had eaten most of it. The Electric-Type scampered after her as she threw the bowl away, and they walked back out into the lobby.

"Okay, Petro! Fuchsia City is kind of far from here. Are you ready?" she asked as they walked to the door.

"Chu!"

Petro nodded as he followed Ren outside. Stretching, Ren sighed as she looked towards the path to Saffron City; she could still see Snorlax in the distance. Turning to the west side of Celadon, Ren tried to walk a bit faster.

"Okay, Fuchsia is this way, but… I think it'll take a while to get there…"

"Ka."

Ren and Petro wove through Celadon's crowded sidewalks, and eventually reached the opposite side of town. The trees were getting closer together, similarly to the east end of Celadon, and there was a large gatehouse at the end of the path. Ren had to lean into the heavy wooden door to open it, and blinked when she got inside.

The gatekeeper had his feet kicked up on the counter at the back of the room, and there were several bikes in front of him. He looked up at Ren with a bored look on his face, and gestured to the bikes.

"Those are for people who don't already have one," he drawled. "Cycling Road's up ahead, and pedestrians aren't allowed."

"Oh, um… Okay," Ren answered uncertainly. "But what do I do when I'm done riding?"

"Just leave it at Fuchsia's gatehouse."

"All right…"

As Ren walked over to the bikes to inspect them, Petro instantly pointed towards one of them. It was bright red and looked almost brand-new, and it was clearly the Pikachu's favorite. Ren looked at it more closely, and realized that fortunately the seat looked like it was adjusted to about her height.

"I guess I'll use this one, then."

Ren wheeled the bike over to the exit door and waved to the gatekeeper. She managed to push the door open with one hand, and carefully climbed onto the bike. She only had to stretch her legs a little bit in order to reach the pedals, and Petro hopped onto the handlebars.

"Okay, here we go, Petro," Ren said, taking a deep breath. "The road looks really steep…"

It was true; the path ahead of them was paved and didn't look like it took too many turns or curves. However, it was almost completely downhill, making Ren nervous.

"Pika!" Petro ginned, looking excited.

"Oh, never mind…"

Ren sighed as she started pedaling. After a few seconds, she was going down the hill, and the slope made her pick up some speed. Gulping, she tried to slow down a bit, but Petro scowled at her as she did so.

"Hey, kid!"

Ren screeched to a halt when she suddenly heard a voice. A man with shaggy brown hair had just skidded to a halt in front of her; apparently he'd been a few seconds behind her. He grinned as he reached into the pocket of his jeans.

"Uh, yes?" Ren asked, startled.

"I just saw that Pikachu on your bike, there, and I thought it might be fun to have a quick battle," he explained. "What do you say, kid?"

"Okay… What do you think, Petro?"

"Chu!"

Ren and the other biker laughed as Petro grinned and jumped down to the pavement. The man pulled a Pokéball out of his pocket and released a slightly smaller-than-normal Weezing. However, the Poison-Type looked just as eager as Petro did.

"All right, Weezing, let's show 'em a Sludge!"

"Petro, try a Quick Attack!"

Weezing shot a small ball of sludge towards Petro. The Electric-Type jumped out of the way, though, and then collided with Weezing. It tumbled backwards through the air, but managed to regain its balance.

"All right, um, now try Thunderbolt!"

Petro smirked as his cheeks started sparking. He then launched the Thunderbolt at Weezing, and the somewhat singed Pokémon crashed to the ground, closing its eyes. Ren and the other biker looked surprised, but Petro looked pleased.

"Well, that was pretty sudden, but hey, it was pretty fun too." The man winked as he withdrew Weezing. "See you!"

With that, he lifted his feet and started pedaling again, eventually speeding down the slope. Petro jumped back onto Ren's bike handles, striking a victory pose and causing Ren to giggle as she started riding off as well. As she picked up speed again, she started to feel a bit more comfortable with the bike.

"Well, at least I think we'll get to Fuchsia quickly!"

Ren and Petro smiled as they sped down the path, ready to reach the end of it.


	33. Chapter Thirty Two: Vs Kangaskhan!

_Author's Note_: And now it's time for some lovely stuff in the Safari Zone. This chapter is a little bit longer than the last one… There's no real reason for Kangaskhan other than Giovanni didn't have one, I guess.

**Chapter Thirty Two: Vs Kangaskhan!**

"Whew…"

Ren panted as she kidded to a halt in front of another large gatehouse. She'd just reached the bottom of the hill, and her legs were still a bit numb from pedaling so much. She climbed of the bike and wheeled it towards the building, but Petro was still sitting on the handlebars.

A few seconds later, she managed to push open the gatehouse's door and pulled the bike along behind her. Ren pulled it over to a small collection of bikes at the opposite end of the room. Then, as Petro jumped off the bike and scurried after her, she pushed open the opposite door.

"W-Wow, Petro! Look, this place is huge!"

Ren blinked as she stepped outside. They were evidently on the edge of Fuchsia City, and the large town was lined by trees. She could see several large apartment buildings in the distance, as well as a few more tree-lined paths.

"Chu," Petro replied, rather indifferently.

The blonde sighed. "Oh well… Let's just look around for a little while."

After wandering around the brick sidewalks for a few minutes, Ren found herself in an area on the northern edge of town that resembled a zoo. Low hedges surrounded the cubicles, which held several rare Pokémon. There was a pair of Chansey in one, and there was a Lapras, an Omanyte, and a Kabuto floating around a small lake in another.

Petro blinked, hopping up to one of the other enclosures. There was a small, round red-and-white sphere in it that resembled a Pokéball. However, it rolled over and started sparking, revealing itself to be a Voltorb and causing Petro to step back slightly in surprise.

"It's okay, Petro," Ren giggled. "I thought it was a Pokéball too. I wonder where they get these Pokémon from, though."

After a few more seconds of walking, the pair saw a large building with a gate extending around an area behind it. A sign over the door read "Fuchsia Safari Zone: Catch Rare Pokémon Here."

"Pika!" Petro grinned.

"Yeah, let's go!" Ren grinned back.

She pulled open the door and stepped into the small, tiled room. There was a counter in the back, and a couple of camouflage-suited attendants were sitting behind it. One of them held out a clipboard as Ren walked up to them.

"We need you to sign in, miss," he said.

"A-All right."

As Ren quickly wrote her name on the list, another man held out a few Pokéballs. She looked at them curiously; they were camouflage as well.

"Safari Balls," he clarified. "You only get five of them, and they're different than other Pokéballs. They help us track who's catching what."

"Oh, okay. I get it."

"Now go on and have some fun!"

Ren smiled as she walked through the back door. She had just entered a large, grassy area with several shrubs and large plants. There was even a lake in the distance, and it glinted as sunlight reflected off of it.

"Let's look at the lake first, Petro!"

"Chu!"

Petro nodded as he followed after Ren. Suddenly, there was a splash a few feet away, and Ren gasped as a Goldeen jumped out of the water. She tried to throw a Safari Ball at it, but the Water-Type had already landed back in the water, and the ball missed. It paused, turning around and blinking at her, and Ren tried to toss another ball. However, this time Goldeen merely knocked it away with its horn, and then swam away.

Ren sighed. "Oh well… I guess we can try to catch something else."

She started to turn away, but Petro tapped her on the knee. Looking back at the lake, Ren saw a Seaking drifting around the middle of it. Smiling, Ren took another Safari Ball and threw it at Seaking. Unfortunately, though, it was too far away, and she missed again.

"Petro, I think I need to save my last two…"

"Pika."

Ren started walking again, looking around carefully. Petro darted ahead of her with his ears perked up, listening for any other Pokémon that might be nearby. Suddenly, there was a rustle from a bush a few yards away, and Ren and Petro paused.

A somewhat small Kangaskhan stepped out from behind the shrub, trundling along the path in front of them. Ren quickly reached for a Safari Ball and tossed it at Kangaskhan. She reached up and swiped it away slowly, and Ren frowned. However, she suddenly threw another Ball at the Normal-Type while her guard was down, and the ball shook several times before clicking shut.

"Yay, Petro! I caught it!"

Ren cheered as she leaned forward to pick up the Safari Ball. Before she could, though, it abruptly vanished.

"Huh? Wh-what happened?"

She heard a beeping noise from her pocket and pulled out her Pokédex. When she opened it, she saw the blue button on the corner of it blinking, and there was a message on the screen. "_Transfer complete_" blinked for several seconds before vanishing.

"Oh, I get it," Ren said after several seconds. "I already have six Pokémon… I guess it went to Professor Oak's lab or something…"

"Chu," Petro sighed.

"Well, that was my last Safari Ball, so I guess maybe we should go. At least I caught something!"

"Ka!"

Nodding, Petro scampered after Ren as she started walking back towards the Safari Zone's entrance. As she approached the building, she felt a bit sad that she couldn't keep Kangaskhan, but glad that she'd at least got it.


	34. Chapter Thirty Three: Vs Venonat!

_Author's Notes_: And now it's time for Koga. Those invisible walls were annoying, so I'm not putting them in. (cough) Anyway, he's kind of following his Yellow Team here, with Venonat and Venomoth. Oh, and Koga's daughter is here too. I know FR/LG calls her "Charine," but since she was Janine in GSC (which came out earlier), I'm going with that.

**Chapter Thirty Three: Vs Venonat!**

"Whew…"

Ren sighed as she sank down into a chair in the Pokémon Center's cafeteria. It had taken several minutes of wandering around to find the building; Fuchsia was even larger than she'd first thought. Petro jumped straight onto the table, pulling a piece of cheese off of the ham, turkey, and cheese sandwich they were sharing.

"I think maybe we should challenge the gym tomorrow," she yawned. "I'm really tired."

"Chu," Petro agreed.

After Ren and Petro finished off the sandwich, Ren stood up to throw the wrapper away. Petro darted after as she walked down the hallway to the lobby and started going towards the common room. Before they could enter the room, however, Ren gasped as she bumped into someone.

Blushing, Ren dusted herself off and stood up. The girl she'd collided with looked just as surprised as she did, but she hadn't fallen over. Ren blinked as she looked at the other girl; she was a bit taller than her, with dark brown hair and eyes and a purple outfit.

"Um, I-I'm sorry," Ren stammered.

"No, it's all right," the girl responded politely. "I wasn't paying attention either. My name is Janine, by the way. What's yours?"

"Ren, and this is Petro!"

"Chu!" Petro grinned.

Janine smiled as she looked at Petro. "Oh, are you going to challenge the gym?"

"Yeah! Not until tomorrow morning though…"

"All right. Would you like me to show you how to get there after you get up?"

"That would be great!" Ren answered gratefully.

"Okay then. I have to go do some training, but I'll come back here tomorrow!"

Janine waved as she walked away, and Ren smiled again as she waved back. Petro suddenly poked Ren's knee, and she stumbled slightly as she looked down at him. He scampered ahead of her to the common room, and Ren quickly hurried after him.

"Petro…" she groaned. "Oh well."

The blonde took one of the provided sleeping bags when she entered the room. Fortunately, it wasn't very crowded, and Ren felt relieved as she rolled her sleeping bag out in the corner. After she slipped out of her shoes, Ren crawled into the bag, and Petro curled up next to her head.

"Let's get up early for the gym battle tomorrow," Ren said sleepily.

"Ka!"

Petro replied excitedly before closing his eyes, and Ren was pretty excited herself as she started to drift off.

* * *

The next morning, Ren yawned as she sat up. Surprisingly, it looked like she'd woken up before Petro for once—the Pikachu was still curled into a ball. A few seconds later, though, he slowly untangled himself and sat up.

"Chu," he greeted blearily.

Ren giggled. "Want to go get some breakfast?"

Petro nodded, following Ren out of the common room a bit more slowly than usual. When they reached the cafeteria again, Ren grabbed a pair of biscuits from the serving line, handing one to Petro as they sat down.

"Hey, Ren! You're here already?"

Ren looked up to see Janine standing near the cafeteria's door. Apparently, the brunette had just finished eating, and had noticed Ren on her way out.

"Yep! We're almost done, so we can come with you now."

Ren and Petro stood up, finishing the last few bits of their breakfast as they walked over to Janine. The taller girl grinned as she turned around and started walking towards the lobby.

"Actually, the gym isn't too far from here. It's just hard to find if you're not paying attention."

"Oh… Well, I guess that's good…"

Janine quickly opened the Center's glass door when they got to the lobby. Ren and Petro carefully followed after her as they left, and Ren tried to pay attention to the paths they were using. After several turns, they started going uphill, and after a few minutes they arrived on a cliff overlooking the Pokémon Center. A wooden building with large, glass windows sat near the cliff's edge.

"Here we are! You have to take your shoes off when we get inside, though."

Janine's grin widened as they walked up to the gym, and the door creaked slightly as she opened it. She slipped out of her sandals and placed them near the door, and Ren quickly took off her sneakers as well. Then, Janine turned around and cupped her hand to her mouth.

"Oy, Daddy! We're here!"

"D-Daddy?" Ren repeated, gasping.

"Yeah, the Gym Leader is my dad!" Janine confirmed proudly. She paused and started to call out again. "Da—"

"I heard you, Janine."

A quiet voice sounded from the back of the room as a tall, dark-haired man slowly stood up from the corner he was sitting in. Ren blinked; Janine looked almost exactly like her father, except his uniform was green instead of purple like hers was. He looked at Ren almost appraisingly before addressing her.

"I am Koga. You are the one who wants to challenge me?"

"Uh… yeah!"

"All right. Shall we begin a two-on-two battle?"

"Th-that's fine," Ren stammered.

"Very well. I'll lead with Venonat."

Koga released a large, round Bug Pokémon with grid-like red eyes. Petro immediately jumped forward, looking confident.

"Um, okay, Petro! Use Thundershock."

Petro's cheeks instantly began to spark, and he discharged the electricity at Venonat. The Bug-Type stumbled backwards, but managed to regain its stance quickly.

"Okay, try Quick Attack!"

"Disable, Venonat."

As Petro started to dash towards Venonat, its eyes began to glow. The Pikachu stiffened suddenly, and then crashed to the floor. Petro glared as he rolled over, unable to move his limbs.

"Now use Psychic."

A dark purple aura surrounded Venonat, and then it released the blast of energy at Petro. He winced as the attack hit, causing him to skid backwards across the floor. Venonat quickly launched another Psychic at Petro, and this time he was clearly knocked out.

"P-Petro…" Ren gulped. "Um, I guess I'll try Igloo…"

Ren reached for the Wartortle's Pokéball and hesitantly released him. He calmly looked at Venonat, and then at Ren.

"Use Tackle, Venonat."

"W-Withdraw!"

Venonat jumped at Igloo, but he immediately pulled himself into his shell. As a result, Venonat simply bounced off of him and landed on the floor, looking surprised.

"Okay! Rapid Spin and Water Gun!"

Igloo spun forward, still in his shell, and collided with Venonat, causing it to cry out in shock. He continued spinning around it and hitting it, and then abruptly popped back out of his shell and shooting water out of his mouth. Venonat fell forward and collapsed, fainted.

"Hmm… Fine. I shall use Venomoth now."

Koga slowly withdrew Venonat and reached for his second Pokéball. A lavender moth-like Pokémon materialized next to him, fluttering its thin wings rapidly.

"Um, try Water Gun again!"

"Toxic, Venomoth."

Igloo leaned forward as he launched another Water Gun from his mouth. Venomoth easily flew out of the way and then flapped its wings even more quickly. A purple powder materialized in the air, causing Igloo's skin to turn purple as it touched him. He started to look dizzy, and then coughed as he tumbled over.

"Oh, no! Igloo!" Ren recalled Igloo, hanging her head. "I-I should have used Sol…"

"Hmm… You did not do poorly, anyway. If you wish, you may challenge me again tomorrow."

"All right."

Ren tried to smile as she picked up Petro and walked towards the door. Janine held the door open for her, waving as Ren walked out. As she exited the gym, Ren sighed, but then decided to feel optimistic for the next day's battle.


	35. Chapter Thirty Four: Vs Venomoth!

_Author's Note_: More Koga battling… And Sol gets to be cool. Kind of a short chapter, though.

**Chapter Thirty Four: Vs Venomoth!**

"Ah, here you are, miss!"

Ren smiled as she took her Pokémon back from the attendant at the Pokémon Center. Amazingly enough, Petro wasn't carrying the Pokéballs—he was even sulkily following the blue-suited woman. The Pikachu scowled as the attendant turned to walk away.

"It's okay, Petro…" Ren said encouragingly as she stood up.

He still frowned, however, as they started walking towards the cafeteria. Ren sighed, realizing he was still upset about losing to Venonat. It had even taken a bit longer than usual to have her Pokémon healed…

"We can still go back tomorrow."

"Chu."

Petro nodded reluctantly as they arrived in the cafeteria. Fortunately the line was short, and Ren quickly grabbed a sandwich from the line. She waited and let Petro take a bit more cheese than he usually did, giggling as he wolfed it down and cheered up a bit.

* * *

Ren stretched as she rolled out a sleeping bag in the common room. She and Petro had stayed at the Pokémon Center for most of the day, and Ren wanted to go to sleep early. Hopefully she'd get to challenge Koga early the next morning as well.

Petro curled up next to Ren after she crawled into the sleeping bag. Yawning overdramatically, he closed his eyes and went to sleep, and Ren giggled as she closed her eyes as well.

* * *

The next morning, Ren yawned as she walked out of the cafeteria. Petro scampered after her, finishing off the remains of his toast crust. They'd slept in a bit later than they'd meant to, and were hurrying to get to the gym.

"Pika!"

"Yes, Petro… I remember how to get there…"

Ren panted, trying to take all of the same turns that Janine had showed her the previous day. After several minutes, they finally arrived on the familiar plateau, and the gym's door was surprisingly already open. Ren blinked, wondering if it was okay to just walk in, but then went into the building. Slipping out of her shoes, she tried to look around for Janine or Koga.

"K-Koga? Janine?" she called.

"We're here!"

Janine suddenly leapt out from behind a wooden cabinet in the back of the room, grinning broadly. On the other hand, Koga slowly stood up from the same corner he'd been meditating in the previous day.

"Chu," Petro grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Are you ready this early?" Koga asked, folding his arms.

"Y-Yeah," Ren stammered.

"Aw, Daddy, you don't have to be so boring so early in the morning. You'll scare Ren…"

Koga seemed to ignore Janine as he wordlessly reached for one of his Pokéballs. As he released his Venonat again, Janine sulked silently and stuck her tongue out at his back. Ren managed to stifle a giggle as she released Sol, and the Charmeleon eagerly stretched his claws as he looked at the Bug-Type.

"Start with Poison Powder, Venonat."

Ren gulped. "Uh, use Ember, Sol!"

Venonat released a fine, purple powder from its antennae. Before the Poison Powder could reach Sol, however, he quickly blasted it out of the way with an Ember. A bit of the fire attack managed to hit Venonat, and it stumbled backwards in surprise.

"Okay, now try Slash…"

Sol leapt forward, lashing out at Venonat with his claws. The bug Pokémon cried out as it tumbled to the floor, but it managed to stagger back to its feet.

"Venonat, use Tackle."

Somewhat weakly, Venonat rammed itself into Sol before the Fire-Type had the chance to step back. They were close enough that Venonat's attack still evidently did some damage to Sol, and he glared as he skidded backwards. His tail flame even seemed to be glowing a bit more brightly, and he raised his claws defensively. Ren suddenly got an idea while she looked at the angry Charmeleon.

"Sol, use Rage!"

Eagerly, Sol jumped forward again, ramming his fist into Venonat. He then spun around and struck it with his tail, and the two back-to-back attacks caused it to fly backwards. Venonat crashed to the ground, and this time it didn't get back up.

"Hm… Not bad… But can you beat Venomoth this time?"

Koga calmly recalled Venonat and released Venomoth. The lavender moth had the same calm look on its face as its trainer did.

"Leech Life, Venomoth."

"F-Flamethrower, Sol!"

Venomoth fluttered forward, latching its mouth onto Sol's arm. Growling in pain and anger, Sol easily hit Venomoth with a Flamethrower at such close range. The singed Venomoth was sent soaring, and it circled through the air several times before finally coming to a halt.

Despite the fact that Venomoth looked close to fainting, Sol was still glaring angrily at it. He was panting, and his tail flame was still burning more brightly than usual. Suddenly, Sol began to glow, and then there was a flash. A few seconds later, a much larger Pokémon with wings was in his place.

"Zard…" he hissed.

The newly-evolved Charizard released another Flamethrower. When the attack hit it, Venomoth was once again sent flying. It crashed to the floor, twitching and obviously unable to get back up.

Koga looked resigned as he withdrew Venomoth. "Surprising… But you did well."

"Come on, Daddy! That was awesome!"

Janine grinned at Ren as the blonde recalled Sol as well. She then scurried over to the cabinet she'd been hiding in and grabbed a heart-shaped badge. Ren smiled back as Janine handed it to her.

"It's a Soul Badge! How many badges do you have now?"

"Um, it's my fifth."

"Cool! You can get one at Saffron City and Cinnabar Island too. I think Cinnabar Island is closer, though… Right, Daddy?" Janine asked thoughtfully.

Koga nodded. "Yes, it is. I believe you can catch a ferry to get there."

"Okay, I'll try that! Bye!"

Ren waved as she walked towards the door. Petro followed her with an upset look on his face, clearly disappointed that he hadn't gotten to battle. Smiling sheepishly at him, Ren closed the door carefully as she left the gym, hoping she'd get to use him in her next gym battle.


	36. Chapter Thirty Five: Vs Gloom!

_Author's Note_: No, I'm not going to Cinnabar Island this soon… While it might have been interesting, I wanted to go on to Saffron City first. The chapter ended up being a bit short, though.

**Chapter Thirty Five: Vs Gloom!**

"I wonder where I can get to the ferries that Koga mentioned…"

Ren sighed as she sat down on one of the Center's couches. She'd just gotten Sol back from the nurse, and she was currently taking a short break before looking around again. Petro, however, cocked his head to the side and pulled a sheet of paper out from under the couch.

"Pika."

"I-Is that a map?"

Ren took the paper from Petro and looked at it carefully. It did seem to be a map, and the blonde smiled as she spotted the location of the ferry dock. Standing up, she headed over to the Center's door.

"Come on, Petro!"

"Chu!"

The Electric-Type grinned as he scampered after Ren, clearly just as excited as she was…

* * *

"I'm sorry, miss, but we can't let anyone take the ferries right now."

"Um… why?"

Blinking, Ren looked up at one of the dockhands. They were standing on a wide bridge that led to the dock, and the large man shook his head as he replied.

"Some of the ferries are having some difficulties, so they're not safe. Sorry."

"Oh… Okay then…"

Ren hung her head as she turned around to leave. Petro frowned as he scurried after her, and she tried to smile as she looked down at him.

"Well, I guess we could always try to go to Saffron, like Janine said! I think the map showed a road to Saffron by Lavender Town."

"Ka!"

Petro smirked and nodded, and Ren smiled as well as she picked up her pace.

* * *

"I think this way will lead to Lavender Town…"

Ren paused to catch her breath as she and Petro stopped in front of Fuchsia's eastern gatehouse. Then, she pushed open the heavy door, looking around curiously. At least it looked like she wouldn't have to cycle back to Lavender, as there were no bikes in the building.

Relieved, Ren walked over to the opposite door and pushed it open. When she stepped outside, she saw that she and Petro had arrived on a grassy costal route with a narrow land bridge leading north. Ren smiled again as she and Petro continued walking.

"This is kind of pretty," she said, looking out at the ocean.

"Chu," Petro yawned.

The blonde sighed at the Pikachu's lack of enthusiasm. However, she continued walking, trying to think about getting to Lavender and then Saffron instead.

Gasping, Ren stumbled suddenly over something on the path, and instinctively looked down to see what she'd stepped on. A sleeping Gloom had been lying on the ground, but needless to say, it didn't look too tired anymore. Gloom stumbled to its feet, clearly trying but failing to look angry. Ren became a bit more nervous, however, when it started to release a Razor Leaf attack out of the flower on its head.

"Ah! Go, Venus!"

Ren quickly released the Ivysaur, and Venus blinked impatiently as she looked at Ren and then Gloom. The Razor Leaf was coming closer to them, and Ren gulped.

"Uh, use Vine Whip!"

"Ivy!"

Venus eagerly shot several vines out of her flower, knocking the Razor Leaf away. Then, she struck Gloom with one of the vines, causing the other Grass-Type to stumble backwards. She looked a bit proud of herself as Gloom winced.

"Okay… Try using Tackle now."

Nodding, Venus jumped forward, crashing into Gloom just as it started to stand back up. It tumbled over again, and this time it didn't get back up. Ren sighed in relief as she withdrew Venus.

"I-I feel kind of bad about leaving Gloom knocked out… But I don't want it to attack us again… Let's hurry, Petro!"

"Chu," Petro agreed.

He scampered ahead of her down the path, and Ren hurried after him. She paused for a moment to look over her shoulder, but then shook her head and scrambled to catch up to Petro.

* * *

"Whew… We finally made it to Lavender…"

The trail had been a lot longer than Ren had expected, and she stopped to catch her breath as she and Petro arrived in the secluded town. There had been a small gap in the steep hills that had allowed them to just barely slip into Lavender from the coastal route. Looking down at Petro, she sighed.

"We can… try to get to Saffron tomorrow… Let's stop at the Pokémon Center."

Petro grinned and nodded as his stomach growled loudly. Giggling, Ren started walking along the familiar dirt trail, eager to take a break herself.


	37. Chapter Thirty Six: Vs Abra!

_Author's Note_: Saffron City's pretty cool… And Sabrina's one of my favorite Gym Leaders, in both the game and the manga. (I even liked her in the anime… gasp!) Anyway, like Koga, Sabrina is going to have her Yellow team. And by the way, telepathy is shown like 'this' instead of "this." And yes, the chapter cuts in a weird place, but that's because I'm going to have a bit more happen next chapter.

**Chapter Thirty Six: Vs Abra!**

"Hmm…"

Ren blinked a she looked at the map in Lavender's Pokémon Center. She and Petro had just woken up and eaten breakfast, and they were ready to head on to Saffron City. However, Ren was slightly confused as she examined the map.

"Saffron is much closer to here than I thought… Did we pass it on the way to Celadon City, Petro?"

"Chu."

Petro shook his head, and Ren sighed. When Ren stood up from the couch she'd been sitting on, she stretched, Petro jumped to the floor after her. Ren yawned, still a bit tired, as she walked over to the Center's glass door and pushed it open.

She and Petro quickly walked outside, eager to get to Saffron. Remembering the directions from the map, Ren walked towards the west end of Lavender with Petro scampering after her, entering the familiar route she'd taken to Celadon. After several minutes of walking, though, Ren spotted a separate path that branched slightly to the south. The path was partially blocked by trees, however, which could explain why Ren hadn't seen it before.

"I guess we go this way…" Ren trailed off.

As the blonde continued to walk, Petro scurried in front of her as usual. A large gatehouse appeared in front of them a few moments later, and Ren head to struggle a bit in order to open its heavy door. Several guards were sitting at the counter in the back of the room, and they all looked at her as she walked in.

"Excuse me, miss, we need to see an ID of some kind," one of the men called.

Gulping, Ren walked over to the guards and pulled out her Pokédex. She pressed a few buttons to open the Trainer ID page before placing the device on the counter. The guards nodded, and one of them handed the Pokédex back to Ren.

"All right, go on."

"Th-thanks!"

Ren was admittedly still a bit nervous as she walked to the opposite door. When she exited the building, however, she could see why Saffron might be worried about security.

"W-Wow, Petro! This place is huge! They must have a lot of people coming through here all the time…"

"Pika," Petro agreed.

Saffron was practically crammed with skyscrapers and business buildings. The apartments towered over Ren and Petro as they walked through the completely pavement-lined town in amazement. Slightly intimidated, Ren hoped that she'd be able to find the Pokémon Center in case she needed it later.

After several moments of walking, the Center's red roof jumped out at Ren. The girl blinked; even Saffron's Pokémon Center was huge. It had to be at least three stories tall…

Gulping, Ren ducked through the glass doors, hoping she'd find a map of Saffron inside. Petro scurried ahead of her, jumping onto the couch and pointing to a poster above it. Fortunately, the poster displayed a map, and Ren saw that the Gym was on the northern edge of town.

"Okay… Are you ready to go to the gym?" Ren asked, trying to sound confident.

"Chu!"

Smirking, Petro jumped off the couch and darted back to the door. Ren pushed it open, and she swallowed as a large group of trainers entered the building. She hoped that they hadn't all lost their gym battles…

Finding the gym was almost as hard as finding the Pokémon Center. Ren had to wander through several more winding paths, and she almost lost Petro a few times. However, she managed to find a large, dome-shaped building after several minutes. A small sign next to the door read "Saffron City Gym" in purple letters, with "Led by Sabrina" in smaller letters at the bottom.

"Here we go, Petro—Eek!"

Ren was about to reach for the golden door handle when a pair of shadows suddenly formed in front of her. The shadows slowly came into focus, forming an Abra and a trainer. Brushing a piece of her long black hair out of her eyes, the woman carefully looked at Ren.

"A challenger… aren't you?"

"Um, uh, yeah, but h-how did you know?" Ren stuttered, still in shock.

"I sensed you coming. If you truly want to battle me… then enter here and prepare to put yourself to the test."

With that, Sabrina gestured to the Abra, and its eyes promptly opened. The two turned into shadows again as Abra's eyes started to glow, and they were gone a few seconds later.

"Creepy…" Ren blinked. "I guess we don't have a choice…"

"Pika," Petro replied, rolling his eyes.

Ren paused as she opened the door, hoping that nothing else would appear in front of her. Nothing did, thankfully, but she was surprised again as she and Petro stepped inside. She had entered a small, uncarpeted, metal room with two glowing tiles in the floor.

"What are we supposed to do?"

'Choose the correct floor panel to reach me. That is all.'

Ren felt her eyes widen; she was sure she'd just heard Sabrina's voice in her head. Trying not to feel scared, Ren decided that she might as well try stepping on one of the strange tiles just to see what they did. They had no other way to go on, anyway…

"C-Come on, Petro."

Hesitantly, Ren walked over to the tile on her right, with Petro close behind her. When they stepped on it, Ren felt a tingling feeling in her limbs, and then she saw a bright flash of light. Ren blinked, trying to see clearly again, and realized they were in a different room. Sabrina wasn't there, however, and this room had four glowing tiles instead of four.

"I guess we have to try again… But I don't know which to pick…"

Anxiously, Ren walked to the panel in the lower right corner of the room and crossed her fingers. She felt the vibrating sensation again as she and Petro stepped on it, and she closed her eyes.

Ren opened her eyes as her limbs felt normal again. This time, she'd arrived in a larger room, and Sabrina was leaning against the back wall, and her Abra was next to her. Although Sabrina still made her nervous, Ren was actually relieved to see the pale woman; she was glad that she'd found the right room after two tries.

"Not bad…" Sabrina droned. "Now let's see if you are good at fighting, as well. I can at least feel a hopeful aura emanating from you…"

Ren held her breath. She'd have an interesting battle, that was for sure…


	38. Chapter Thirty Seven: Vs Alakazam!

_Author's Note_: And now Ren gets to fight Sabrina. Oh, remember Gino? He's back, too…

**Chapter Thirty Seven: Vs Alakazam!**

"Are you ready?"

Sabrina's monotone echoed around the room, and Ren gulped as she nodded. Wordlessly, the dark-haired woman gestured to her Abra, which had been sitting behind her the whole time. It floated forward, and Petro jumped into a fighting pose.

"I-I think I'm ready, anyway…"

"All right."

Once again, Sabrina simply gestured to Abra, and a purple aura surrounded it. The Psychic attack then launched towards Petro, and the Electric-Type was taken off-guard. Petro was struck directly by the attack, and he was sent flying. When he landed on his feet, he glared at Abra and growled.

"Okay, try Thundershock!"

Petro immediately launched some electricity from his cheeks. Before the attack could reach Abra, however, it vanished. Moments later, Abra reappeared several feet away from where the Thundershock hit the floor. Blinking, Petro tried to repeat Thundershock several more times, but Abra kept teleporting away.

"Wait, Petro," Ren whispered. "Try Quick Attack right when it comes back."

Petro nodded, and then shot a Thundershock at Abra to make it Teleport. Then, Petro squinted, waiting for Abra's shadow to start forming. When he saw the Psychic-Type materializing a few feet away, Petro immediately darted forward and crashed into it, catching it by surprise.

Abra tumbled backwards, landing in a heap on the floor. It managed to untangle itself quickly and tried to use Teleport again. Before it could, however, Petro hit it with another Quick Attack, abruptly followed by a Thundershock. The singed Pokémon once again landed in a heap, and this time, it didn't get back up.

Sighing, Sabrina reached for a Pokéball and quietly recalled Abra. She then released a taller Psychic Pokémon with long whiskers, and it lazily tossed a spoon from hand to hand a few times as it looked appraisingly at Petro.

"Kad… abra," it said resignedly.

"Chu!" Petro glared again.

Darting forward again, Petro attempted to use another Quick Attack. Sabrina's lips twitched upwards momentarily before she nodded to Kadabra.

"Psybeam," she droned.

Kadabra raised its spoon, and a rainbow-colored aura formed around the utensil. Then, a beam shot towards Petro, causing him to tumble backwards. Wincing, Petro pulled himself back up, but didn't try to attack again.

"Um… Maybe… Maybe we can try Thundershock again?"

Petro nodded, albeit a bit weakly, and started to launch another Thundershock. Sabrina simply nodded to Kadabra in response, and the human-shaped Pokémon raised its spoon again. Slowly, a thin yellow screen of light formed in front of Kadabra, absorbing the electric attack and then vanishing.

"L-Light Screen?" Ren blinked, and Petro groaned. "Well… Maybe Slam will work?"

"…Psychic."

Petro leapt towards Kadabra, trying to crash into its side. To counter the Pikachu, Kadabra simply swiped at him with its spoon, throwing him off balance. Then, a purple aura surrounded the Psychic-Type, and it unleashed the energy attack on Petro. He stumbled backwards, and then collapsed near Ren's feet.

"Aww, no, Petro…" Ren sniffed. "Y-You were doing well… I don't know who to use now."

Pausing, Ren tried to think of what to send out next. She was pretty sure that most of her Pokémon would have trouble with Kadabra… But she had to pick something, and she needed an attack that would catch Kadabra off guard. Suddenly, Ren had an idea, and she pulled one of her Pokéballs out of her pocket.

"I know… I'll use Venus!"

The Ivysaur materialized next to Ren, a confident look on her face as she leaned forward. Sabrina had a brief look of mild amusement on her face, and Ren remembered that Venus would have a type disadvantage… However, she had an attack in mind that she hoped would work.

"Psybeam, Kadabra."

"V-Vine Whip, Venus!"

Kadabra raised its spoon again and started to form another Psybeam. Before it could, though, Venus shot a vine out of the flower on her back and hit the spoon, knocking it out of Kadabra's hand. As the Psychic Pokémon's narrow eyes widened in shock, Venus shot some more vines out of her flower, striking Kadabra several times. It tumbled over, trying to get back up, but Venus hit it one more time and caused it to faint."

Sabrina closed her eyes, wordlessly recalling Kadabra. She then pulled a third Pokéball from her belt and released an Alakazam. It practically towered over Venus, and Ren gulped despite the defiant look on the Grass-Type's face.

Venus glared, and moments later, a flash surrounded her. As the glow died down, a Venusaur stood in her place, and she had an even more confident look on her face as she was on a more equal footing. Ren gasped, about to congratulate Venus, but then Sabrina spoke again.

"Psychic."

After the one-word command, Alakazam's eyes started to glow. Ren unconsciously took a step back, immediately nervous again, as she tried to come up with a counter quickly enough. Abruptly, she remembered her battle with Koga, and an attack came to mind.

"Venus, use Poison Powder!"

Nodding, Venus shot a fine, purple powder from her now-larger flower. As the spores reached Alakazam, the Psychic-Type suddenly started coughing and blinking, and its attack was halted. Its skin paled and then turned purple, and it slowly fell backwards. Ren held her breath, and she released it when Sabrina withdrew Alakazam.

"That is my last Pokémon… I predicted that you would do well, but I did not think you would win so quickly. You have earned a Marsh Badge."

The pale woman took a round badge off of the small table in the corner of the room and handed it to Ren. Smiling, Ren recalled Venus and put the badge in her pocket.

"Um, thanks."

"Oh, and…"

Trailing off, Sabrina closed her eyes and put her hand over Petro. A pale light surrounded him, and a moment later, be opened his eyes and jumped up. Blinking, Ren looked back and forth between Petro and Sabrina.

"But… If you can use psychic power to heal Pokémon… Then why didn't you have yours use Recover?"

Sabrina shrugged. "Obviously, your Pokémon has to be conscious to use any move, correct? Your Venusaur was too quick with Vine Whip and knocked out Kadabra before I could order it to use Recover… And even if Alakazam had used Recover, I couldn't have gotten rid of the poison."

"Oh. Well, uh, thanks anyway for healing Petro… I guess I should go now…"

Ren started to walk towards the glowing teleportation tile in the back of the room with Petro in tow. Before she could step on it, Sabrina stopped her.

"I can teleport you directly outside, if you wish."

"Th-That would be great! Thanks!"

With a nod, Sabrina closed her eyes, and a bright blue aura surrounded Ren and Petro. Ren started to feel numb and closed her eyes as well. When she reopened them, she blinked and saw that she was standing directly outside of the gym. Petro appeared next to her a few seconds later, grinning.

"Pika!" he cried, waving his arms excitedly.

Ren smiled at him, and started to take a few steps forward. Before she got very far, a vaguely familiar voice called out to her.

"Ren?"

Pausing, the blonde felt her eyes widen as she spotted Gino. He shrugged and ran his hand through his spiky brown hair, and then he smirked.

"Did you just lose at the gym or something? Is that why you're here?"

"N-no," Ren stammered defensively. "I just got a badge! Wh-Why are you here?"

Gino turned to the side, clearly trying to decide whether or not to tell her. A few seconds later, he sighed and turned back to her.

"Well… I don't know if you noticed that this place is cracking down on security. It's not because they're scared of anything… It's because they've been ordered to be uptight."

"Huh? What does that mean?" Ren asked.

"It means that they've got someone in charge that shouldn't be here. I heard about it from Uncle," Gino explained. "He knows some people here who are part of this big company called Silph that makes a lot of Pokémon products, and they said that lately their president has been working with some shady characters. I told him I'd check it out for him."

"But is it safe to go alone?"

"Probably not, but it'd be even less safe if you came along."

"Gi-Gino…" Ren's eyes watered, and Petro glared at the boy. "What if something happens? I want to go with you!"

"All right, all right," Gino caved in. "Just don't hurt yourself or anything, got it? Follow me."

Feeling a bit better, Ren tried to smile down at Petro again as she trailed after Gino. Even if it was risky, going to Silph Co. sounded a bit exciting as well… And she was glad that Gino was letting her go.


	39. Chapter Thirty Eight: Vs Arbok!

_Author's Note_: Since those warp panels in Silph were really annoying, I'm not including them… And remember those two grunts from Mt. Moon forever ago? They're back.

**Chapter Thirty Eight: Vs Arbok!**

"Um, Gino? Where exactly is Silph Company?"

"Just hang on… We're almost there."

"Chu…"

Groaning, Petro rolled his eyes as he trailed after Ren and Gino. They were currently navigating through the winding streets of Saffron City, and the office buildings and apartments were towering over them. Ren was looking around nervously as she followed Gino, and the brunette frowned and looked over his shoulder at her.

"I told you that you didn't have to come."

"B-But we're already almost there, right?"

"…Here it is."

The trio had just arrived in front of a giant, concrete building that was easily the tallest of Saffron's many skyscrapers. Many glass windows lined the walls, but almost all of them were darkened. Gino frowned as he looked up at the company, and immediately tried to open the door—it was locked, though.

"Of course… Come here, Exeggutor, and use Psychic!"

As he spoke, he pulled a Pokéball off of his belt and released a palm-tree like Pokémon. Each of Exeggutor's three heads grinned as a purple aura surrounded it. The attack then hit the door handle, and after a brief moment, the knob simply vanished, leaving a hole in the door where it had previously been.

"Good." Gino sounded rather smug as he withdrew the Grass-and-Psychic-Type. "Now that the lock's gone, we can get in."

He slid several fingers into the place where the knob had been and then pried the door open. Ren gulped as she and Petro followed Gino inside; she was a bit nervous as to what they might find. The large, carpeted lobby was completely empty and only had a few lights on, compounding her worries.

"Um… Wh-Why isn't anyone here?"

"That's what we're here to figure out, remember? Now stop chattering and follow me."

Gino started walking towards the staircase in the back of the room, and Petro impatiently darted after him. After a nervous pause, Ren tiptoed after Petro and Gino. Their footsteps echoed as they walked up the stairs, and Ren clutched tightly onto the banister.

Eventually, they arrived on the second floor, which was also darkened. Empty office cubicles lined the floor, and the trio was met with the humming of a few computers that hadn't been shut down. As they headed down the hall to the next staircase, they didn't see a single employee.

"I… hope everyone's okay…"

"Stop worrying." Gino glared over his shoulder. "Do you want to find out what's going on or not?"

"Chu!" Petro agreed with the brunette, rolling his eyes.

"O-Okay," Ren stammered.

The blonde tried to take her mind off of all the empty cubicles on the following floors by counting the number of staircases the trio was taking. She lost count once or twice, however, and Gino's silence was starting to make her even more worried. After they took the ninth—or was it the tenth?—staircase, they arrived in a long hallway with a door at the end. It had to be the top floor, Ren figured, and the door probably led to an executive office if it took up an entire level.

"H-Hey, Gino, is there someone over there?"

Squinting, Ren thought that she saw one or two shadows near the door. Petro and Gino looked carefully as well, and then nodded in confirmation. Gino then looked back at Ren with a tense expression on his face.

"Be careful. We don't know if they're workers here or not."

Ren swallowed as Gino unconsciously let his hand drop to the Pokéballs on his belt. When they got closer to the door, they could see two people dressed in black uniforms. One was a tall brunette girl who was glaring down at her partner, a nervous-looking blonde man.

"Stop whining, Earl! It's bad enough that we failed at Mt. Moon, so the least we could do is stand guard while the boss does his work!"

"But Ray… This is so boring. Let's go steal something."

"You can see how well that turned out last time!"

Earl dodged a slap and curled up into a ball on the floor. As Gino took another step forward, his eyebrow twitched, and Petro looked a bit irked as well. Ren, on the other hand, just blinked, wondering why the two people looked familiar.

"Hey… I don't know what you guys are arguing about, but why are you here?" Gino asked dubiously.

"You're such a suspicious boy," Ray snorted. "But I do like strong children, so maybe I'll tell you if you and your little friend can defeat us."

"Ray! Isn't that the girl that beat us at Mt. Moon, though?" Earl sulked.

Ren gasped as she remembered the two thieves, but Ray shrugged. The older girl looked nonchalant, and Ren wondered if she was hiding some kind of secret.

"So? No big deal. We're a lot stronger now. Now get up, you lazy idiot!"

Sighing, Earl stood up and pulled the Pokéball off of his belt and released a Weezing. Ray smirked and pressed the release button on her own Pokéball, and an Arbok materialized next to her. Arbok slithered in front of Weezing, clearly more ready to fight than its partner was.

Gino paused, scowling, before selecting his Pokémon. He released an Alakazam after a moment, and Ren blinked as she remembered the battle she'd just had with Sabrina. Shaking her head, Ren took a Pokéball out of her pocket and released Igloo. The Wartortle looked calmly at the two Poison-Types as he nodded to Alakazam.

"Humph. This might be fun," Ray commented. "Arbok, use Sludge Bomb!"

"Sludge, Weezing," Earl continued reluctantly.

Both Pokémon simultaneously shot purple sludge from their mouths. Ren winced, but Gino seemed to have a plan. He half-grinned as he called out to Alakazam.

"Use Reflect."

Alakazam swung its two spoons forward, and a thin screen formed in front of it and Igloo. The combined poison attacks simply slid off the barrier, causing no damage. Earl and Ray both looked surprised, and Ren tried to think of something to attack with before they could respond.

"Um, uh… Igloo, try Ice Beam!"

Nodding, Igloo launched a ray of ice at Arbok and Weezing. The lower half of Arbok's tail was frozen to the floor, and it struggled to get loose in vain. Weezing's back was covered in a thin layer of ice, and the weight caused it to sink slightly.

Igloo quickly followed up with another Ice Beam, although this one was a bit smaller. The second Ice Beam knocked Weezing into Arbok, sticking the two together. After firing the attack, Igloo panted and started to sweat, although he hadn't been damaged himself. Ren realized what was going on a few seconds later when Igloo started to glow and was suddenly formed into a Blastoise.

"Hey, not bad," Gino said, but he sounded a bit surprised as well. "I think I can finish them off now. Alakazam, give them a Psychic!"

The human-shaped Pokémon closed its eyes, and a purple aura surrounded it. Then, the blast of energy struck the two frozen Pokémon, causing them to sink to the floor completely. Ray shrieked when she realized that they had fainted.

"Oh, how annoying! Now what are we supposed to do?"

"What if they decide to freeze us, too?" Earl panicked.

"They won't," Ray scowled. "That kid's too much of a chicken! I'm more worried about the Alakazam. And if the boss finds out that we failed again, we'll be fired or maybe worse… Meh. His work should be almost over anyway, so let's just hightail it out of here!"

After the two grunts recalled their Pokémon, Ray pulled a small smoke bomb out of her pocket. She dropped it to the floor, releasing a large cloud of smoke. Ren, Gino, Alakazam, and Igloo all coughed and tried to wave the smoke away. When they could see again, Ray and Earl had vanished.

"Hey! They didn't answer our question," Gino grumbled.

"At least we know that their boss is here…"

"But we don't know what he's doing. We should try to see if that door is unlocked."

Almost as soon as Gino finished speaking, the office door made a clicking noise, signifying that it was unlocked. It started to open, revealing a dark-haired man in a black suit. He proceeded to close and lock the door behind him, and then raised an eyebrow when he saw Ren, Gino, and their Pokémon.

"Hmm? How did two children get in here? I thought I stationed guards in this hallway."

"Well, they were really bad guards," Gino said disdainfully. "Why are _you_ here? That's what we came to find out. All of the employees are gone!"

"I really don't think that's something that you can grasp, little boy… Oh? You look familiar, girl."

He suddenly looked over at Ren, and the blonde felt her eyes widen as she recognized him as Giovanni, the Team Rocket Leader she'd met in Celadon City. Nervously twirling one of her ponytails, Ren took a step backwards.

"S-So Team Rocket has something to do with this?" she squeaked.

"Team Rocket?" Gino repeated. "Wait, I've heard of them! Aren't they thieves?"

"What a foul misconception," Giovanni replied breezily. "We're not petty thieves. We're scientists, and our experiments are meant to improve the Pokémon that we acquire."

"I guess that's why you tried to take over a company that sells Pokémon products. Where's the president, anyway?" Gino questioned.

"Oh? He was of no use to me. He's still in his office… unconscious, of course. And I am afraid that I will have to do a bit more than simply knock you two out…"

Ren yelped as Giovanni languidly pulled a Pokéball from his pocket, and Gino gritted his teeth. Alakazam and Igloo stepped backwards as Giovanni leered.

"You simply know too much to leave here."


	40. Chapter Thirty Nine: Vs Rhyhorn!

_Author's Note_: Ah, defeating Giovanni in Silph Co. was one of my favorite moments… No free Master Ball here, but Petro does get to be pretty awesome. Also, Giovanni plays cheap and I am not including much of his Gym Team yet. The chapter's a bit short though.

**Chapter Thirty Nine: Vs Rhyhorn!**

"What do you mean, we can't leave?"

Glaring at Giovanni, Gino folded his arms over his chest. Ren gulped and stepped backward as the brunette stepped forward. The Rocket leader simply shrugged and shook his head, smirking lightly.

"I can't very well have two brats running around who know what I'm up to here. It would be quite detrimental, you see," Giovanni explained, sounding bored. "Now then… How does a little visit from Rhyhorn sound to you?"

He calmly took a Pokéball from his pocket and released the Rock-Type. Ren held her breath, but Gino returned Giovanni's smirk. He nodded at Ren, and gestured towards Alakazam and Igloo.

"Come on. We can do this," the brunette said confidently.

"Oh, really? It's a bit hard to command your Pokémon when you're unconscious yourself."

Suddenly, Giovanni snapped his fingers. Rhyhorn proceeded to charge forward, hauling itself past the two opposing Pokémon and crashing straight into Gino. Ren shrieked as the boy flew backwards in a near-perfect arc, crashing into the wall and sliding down to the floor, unconscious.

"Gi-Gino!"

Giovanni looked unconcerned. "And now her."

"Horn!"

The Rock Pokémon lumbered forward again, and Ren closed her eyes. However, it never hit her… Igloo promptly shot twin Hydro Pumps out of his canons, causing Rhyhorn to skid backwards. He and Alakazam had both been too shocked to do anything when it had rammed into Gino, but they both seemed to have recovered now. Ren breathed a sigh of relief as she opened her eyes, and suddenly felt a bit more confident.

"Okay! Um, we have to beat that thing for Gino! So…"

Ren poked her index fingers together, trying to come up with a good plan. Of course, she already knew most of Igloo's attacks… But she wasn't used to Alakazam at all. At least it looked determined as well, and it nodded at her as if to say it would listen to her.

"Humph. I'm not worried about battling you on your own, even if you have that boy's Alakazam with you," Giovanni breezed. "Our last battle was a fluke… And I know what to expect from you, at least."

Ren immediately had an idea as she remembered her previous battle with Giovanni. Igloo had beaten Onix with Ice Beam… Even if it wasn't as surprising as last time, the same move should work on Rhyhorn if it worked on the other Rock-Type.

"But… We didn't really f-finish it," Ren stammered. "Anyway… Igloo, try Ice Beam, and Alakazam, use, uh, Psybeam!"

Alakazam closed its eyes and raised its spoons, shooting a pair of rainbow-colored beams out of the utensils. Similarly, Igloo fired a pair of thin rays of ice out of his cannons. The Psybeam attack hit Rhyhorn first, causing it to wince and skid backwards. Seconds later, the Ice Beam hit it, freezing its feet in place.

"Okay… We've almost got it, I think…" Ren smiled.

"Oh, really? Give them a Reversal, Rhyhorn, now!"

Rhyhorn glared weakly as a gray aura surrounded it. The blast of energy then struck both Alakazam and Igloo, causing the two to tumble backwards. Ren gasped as the pair collapsed; how could Rhyhorn use such a strong attack when it was so weakened?

"Hmm… Don't tell me you've never heard of Reversal before," Giovanni said coolly. Now then, Rhyhorn, since those two are out of your way, give the girl a Reversal too!"

"Pika!"

Just as Ren started to flinch at the prospect of getting attacked, she, Giovanni, and Rhyhorn all gasped at the sound of Petro's voice. Sometime during the fight, the Pikachu had somehow managed to dart around the Team Rocket Leader and his Pokémon. Now, he was standing in front of the office door, which was swinging open on its hinges. Inside, the room's desk and couch were slightly visible, as well as the stirring form of a man in a suit who Ren assumed was the company's president.

"How… How did that rat unlock the door?" Giovanni gasped. "And why is the president not unconscious like I left him?"

"Chu," Petro answered smugly.

"Uh… I guess knocking people out doesn't always work…" Ren said nervously.

"It sure doesn't. And I do believe that harming children won't help you, either."

The president had managed to stagger to the door, although he was holding his arms over his stomach. Giovanni narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything as the red-haired man went on.

"I've had enough of working with you, Giovanni! I thought you were interested in our research programs, but you were only out to steal company secrets for your own organization. Now get out of here unless you still want to be around when I call the police!"

"Police?" Giovanni scoffed. "They cannot catch me!"

With that, he recalled Rhyhorn and slipped the Pokéball into his pocket. Then, he pulled out a new object—a smoke bomb. After he dropped it, smoke filled the room, and Ren, Petro, and Silph's president all started to cough and wave the gas clouds away. When they could see clearly again, Giovanni had vanished.

"Well, that did not go exactly as planned," the president sighed. "I should not have even gotten into this mess… I sincerely thank you for helping me get rid of that man, though."

"Actually, um, I've seen him before too… So I wanted to make him leave, also," Ren admitted.

The president looked shocked. "Really! Now I definitely need to report this, even if Giovanni has vanished. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Ren looked over at Gino, Alakazam, and Igloo, who were all still knocked out. "I guess I need some help getting Gino back out… I'm really worried about him…"

"Oh, I can easily do that for you! There is an elevator in the back of my office that leads straight down to the lobby."

"Th-thanks!"

Ren grinned as she bent down to recall Alakazam and Igloo. She put Igloo's Pokéball in her pocket and carefully clipped Alakazam's Pokéball onto Gino's belt. Then, she and the president carefully lifted the brunette and carried him to the back of the room. The president opened the elevator doors, and he and Ren gently set Gino down into a sitting position. Petro darted in after them, and then selected the correct floor for the elevator to land on.

"I should thank you as well. Now please be safe on your way out!"

"Okay!"

Ren smiled gratefully as the elevator door closed, and Petro sighed as he looked up at her. Blushing, Ren looked away.

"I-I couldn't just leave him here…"

Petro rolled his eyes and giggled, and Ren blushed darker as she hoped that the Pikachu would stop teasing her as soon as they got out of the building.


	41. Chapter Forty: Vs Blastoise!

_Author's Note_: Another short chapter, but it's still fairly important. And walking all the way back to Fuchsia would be really annoying, so fortunately, Gino is capable of feeling grateful every once in a while.

**Chapter Forty: Vs Blastoise!**

"Ugh. This is humiliating."

The morning after the Silph Co. incident, Gino and Ren were sitting in the lobby of Saffron's Pokémon Center. Fortunately, the nurse had had a first aid kit, so Gino had been able to clean up the scratches on his stomach from Rhyhorn. The nurse had also given him a spare T-shirt, and this one had longer sleeves than his usual black polo did.

It had been quite difficult to carry Gino, but at least Ren had managed to find an alley that was a short cut to the Center the previous night. Petro had still been teasing her, but had at least managed to slide open the glass doors for her. Currently, the three were about to leave, and Ren was just glad that Gino was fine.

"But Gino, at least you're okay…" Ren pointed out.

Gino sighed. "Whatever. Thanks for taking me here… But I'm a bit surprised that Alakazam listened to you. Usually, my Pokémon only listen to me…"

"I-I guess that's a compliment…" Ren mumbled, sighing as well.

"Anyway, I need to head off to Fuchsia. What about you?"

Ren tried to think of where she still needed to go, and then remembered that Janine had mentioned a gym in Cinnabar Island. If Ren recalled correctly, it was close to Fuchsia… The ferry had been out of service the last time she'd been there, but it was worth a try.

"Well… I need to go there too, because I'm going to Cinnabar Island."

Gino paused, and then reached to his belt to get one of his Pokéballs. He released Alakazam, and the Psychic-Type gave a brief smile when it saw Ren. Then, Gino turned to the blonde resignedly.

"I suppose Alakazam could teleport us both there. Teleporting would be much quicker than walking, after all, and I do owe you."

"R-Really?" Ren grinned brightly. "Thanks, Gino!"

"Don't mention it," he grumbled back.

"Pika!" Petro giggled, and Alakazam chuckled as well.

"You two be quiet!" Gino scowled. "Now, hurry up, Ren, and concentrate on Fuchsia's Pokémon Center. That way, Alakazam will have an easier time teleporting us there."

"Okay," she agreed.

Ren closed her eyes, trying to envision the small building. After a few seconds, she felt a numb sensation in her limbs, similar to the feeling she'd gotten while using the transporting tiles in Sabrina's gym. Then she felt a large tugging feeling as if she were being yanked across a large area. She landed on her knees, and when she opened her eyes, she was indeed in front of Fuchsia City's Pokémon Center. Moments later, Petro, Gino, and Alakazam also appeared next to her.

Gino stood up, dusting himself off and recalling Alakazam. "All right then. I'm going to go grab myself something to eat before challenging the gym. Later, Ren."

The brunette turned and opened the Center's glass door, and Ren blinked as she watched him go in. She then looked down at Petro, and the Pikachu shrugged back at her.

"I guess we should go check at the dock again…"

"Chu," Petro nodded.

Thankfully, Ren remembered how to get to the ferry station. It was only a short walk from the Pokémon Center, after all, and the wooden dock was visible from several yards away anyway.

When she and Petro arrived at the dock, there was a lone dockhand sitting and dangling his feet into the water. There were no ships waiting at all, and Ren blinked nervously as she walked over to the young man. He finally noticed her when she stepped on a creaky piece of wood.

"Hey, the last ferry just left about half an hour ago," he said apologetically. "Sorry, hon."

"Um… H-How can I get to Cinnabar, then?"

"Well, you can either wait until tomorrow for the ships to all come back, or you can surf on a Pokémon," he explained. "You have a Water-Type?"

"Yep, I do!"

Ren smiled, realizing that now Igloo was big enough to transport her. She pulled the Blastoise's Pokéball out of her Pokéball and released him straight into the water. Igloo grinned and swam slowly through the water for a moment, and then looked up at Ren. The dockhand chuckled as Ren and Petro carefully stepped onto Igloo's shell and sat down.

"Heh. You might want to be careful with that Pikachu there."

"Don't worry! Petro will be fine. Bye!"

Ren and the dockhand waved as Igloo began a slow swim again. After a few moments, he began to speed up, apparently glad that he was getting the chance to swim, even if he had to carry Ren and Petro. Suddenly remembering something, Ren leaned forward to talk to Igloo.

"Hey, Igloo! Guess what. I think the map said that there's even a place that we can stop and rest on the way. I think it's called Seafoam Island."

"Blast!"

Nodding, Igloo grinned again, and Ren smiled as the breeze blew over her and Petro.


	42. Chapter Forty One: Vs Horsea!

_Author's Note_: Seafoam Island was _really_ annoying in the games… So it's much easier here. Also, Horsea is adorable… The chapter turned out quite short though, but I promise something important will happen in the next one.

**Chapter Forty One: Vs Horsea!**

"Hey, Igloo… I think we're almost there!"

"Chu!"

Petro agreed with Ren as the blonde saw a faint shoreline in the distance. Nodding, Igloo tried to pace himself as he kept going. The Blastoise seemed a bit tired, but Ren knew he would be fine for just a few more minutes.

"Blast…"

Igloo sped up slightly, and soon he had arrived on the rocky shore of Seafoam Island. Smiling, Ren took the Water-Type's Pokéball out of her pocket and withdrew him.

"Thanks, Igloo." She then looked down at Petro. "I wonder what we can do now that we're here…"

"Pika," Petro replied, shrugging indifferently.

Sighing, Ren took a few steps and looked up to see the island. It seemed fairly small, as Ren could see the opposite west shore when she squinted hard enough. On the northern edge of the island, twin mountains rose at a steep angle with a misty canyon between them. She and Petro were on the southern edge of the island, which was peppered with a few small buildings that were probably rest houses.

"I-I guess we can see if there's anyone else around…" Ren trailed off.

As the pair started walking towards the rest houses, several trainers walked out of one of them. The trainers proceeded to walk the short distance to the west shore and released a variety of Water-Type Pokémon. Ren blinked as she watched them surf away, and then decided to go into the building they'd just left.

Petro scampered after her as she walked up to the door and knocked. There was no response, so Ren nervously opened to door to check the inside of the house. She saw several messy beds, a small table, and a fire place. No one was inside, not even an owner like Ren had expected, but there was a sheet of paper on the table.

Ren picked up the paper, and Petro peeked over her shoulder as she read it. It apparently listed the rules for the cabins, and read "_Rest houses are free for trainers to use. If any problems occur, please contact the main owner in the large building near the caves._" Setting the sheet back down, Ren blinked at Petro.

"Th-That's kind of weird… But I guess it's nice," she commented. "Well, it _is_ late, so do you want to go on to sleep, Petro?"

"Chu!" he nodded.

Petro instantly darted over to the beds, clearly deciding to claim one for himself. He squirmed under the covers, and his ears and the top of his head stuck out onto the pillow. Ren giggled as she walked over to a bed as well, glad for the rest. As she closed her eyes, she hoped Petro wouldn't accidentally shock the beds in his sleep…

* * *

The next morning, Ren woke up surprisingly late. Petro was standing next to her bed, looking impatient and holding a spare piece of toast in his mouth. Ren blinked as she yawned and sat up.

"Um, Petro, where did you get that?"

"Pika!"

Petro pointed out the window, and when Ren squinted, she saw the large building near the caves that the note had mentioned. A few spelunkers were walking out of one of the caves, heading into the lodge. She then smiled as she climbed out of bed.

"I guess the cabin owner has breakfast in the main building. Thanks, Petro!"

Ren ate the slice of toast as she and Petro walked outside. Shivering, Ren closed the rest house's door behind her. She hadn't remembered Seafoam Island being that cold the day before… Maybe she just hadn't noticed as she had just been glad to get there.

After only a few minutes of walking, Ren and Petro arrived at the opposite shore. Ren was about to release Igloo again, but then she noticed a small Pokémon drifting on the water nearby. A Horsea was struggling against the waves, although they weren't very strong. Ren quickly reached for a Pokéball, and Petro gave her an odd look.

"But Petro, Horsea looks hurt! Besides, if it's really okay, then Professor Oak will know what to do with it."

She tossed the Pokéball carefully, and it successfully hit Horsea. The ball floated on the water where the seahorse Pokémon had been for a few moments. It then started to glow, and Ren's Pokédex started beeping. Ren pulled it out of her pocket, remembering the noise from when she'd caught Kangaskhan. When she opened the device, the words "transfer complete" were blinking on the screen.

Smiling, Ren put her Pokédex back in her pocket released Igloo. After stretching, the Blastoise waded out into the water and let Ren and Petro climb onto his back. As she and Petro sat down on Igloo's large shell, Ren grinned.

"Okay, Igloo! Cinnabar Island is really close to here. I think it won't be as far of a swim this time."

"Toise!"

Igloo sounded relieved as he started swimming, and Ren was looking forward to arriving at the next island as well.


	43. Chapter Forty Two: Vs Blastoise II!

_Author's Note_: Yay, Cinnabar Island is fun… I'm changing it a bit to add the hot springs, though. Remember Taylor from the S.S. Anne? I'm finally bringing him back… And I feel kind of bad that it has been so long since I mentioned Rex and Regina. Now that I think about it, though, this is kind of similar to the hot spring chapter in Hoenn Adventures…

**Chapter Forty Two: Vs Blastoise II!**

"Toise…"

Igloo sighed as the Cinnabar Island shoreline came into view. Ren and Petro had been surfing on him for at least an hour, and the large island was finally visible. When he reached the sand, Ren smiled and withdrew him.

She and Petro took a few steps forward, and Ren looked around curiously. The sandy shore faded quickly into rocky soil, but at least there were slightly paved paths leading around the island. All of the buildings were fairly small, and a large volcano rose from the middle of the island.

"I guess we should try to find the Pokémon Center first," Ren commented, looking down at Petro.

"Chu!" Petro nodded.

After scampering ahead of her, the Pikachu paused and waited for Ren to catch up. He darted down the path again, and he and Ren both tried to look for the standard red roof. Fortunately, it only took a few minutes to find the Center, and Ren sighed in relief as she slid open the glass door.

Walking up to the counter, Ren pulled her Pokéballs out of her pocket. The nurse smiled and nodded as she took them and turned towards the healing room in the back. Ren started to turn away as well, but then she heard a vaguely familiar voice.

"Excuse me, Ren? You're Ren, right?"

Blinking, Ren slowly faced the hall to the cafeteria instead of the common room, and Petro peeked around her legs. A boy with long, red hair wearing a red shirt and black pants had just walked out of the cafeteria, and he grinned as she looked at him.

"I met you on the S.S. Anne, remember? I'm Taylor."

"Oh, right!" Ren smiled. "I'm here for the gym. What about you?"

"I live here," Taylor answered. "But I did finally challenge the gym earlier, so I was getting my Pokémon healed. I just got a snack and was about to leave, but then I saw you."

"Okay. Well, I guess I should be going to get something to eat, too, so…"

"Wait! I have an idea."

Ren blinked again, waiting for Taylor to go on. He started walking towards the door, and she and Petro followed after him. However, Petro had a somewhat annoyed look on his face.

"You know how there's the volcano in the middle of the island? Well, there's a hot spring, too, and it only takes a few minutes to get there from here. Also, there's this little vendor near there, so we can eat on the way back."

"Th-that sounds great! What do you think, Petro?"

"Pika!" Petro cheered, suddenly perking up.

Ren giggled at Petro as they followed Ren back outside. He led them down a path that led almost straight out and behind the Pokémon Center, and it only turned a few times. They passed several small houses and stalls along the way, and soon they arrived at a wooden building with a large fence surrounding it.

"This is the entrance lobby," Taylor explained excitedly. "I come here a lot, so I know exactly how to get here."

He pushed open the slightly creaky door, and they entered the building. Several attendants were hurrying around with towels and clipboards, and one of them looked up as Taylor came in with Ren and Taylor.

"Hello, Taylor!" she greeted. "You brought a friend today?"

"Yeah! This is Ren," he introduced. "Is it okay if she brings her Pikachu in with her?"

"I think it should be fine as long as you're careful. Now, I need both of you to sign in here."

The woman handed them her clipboard, and Taylor signed his name very carefully. He then handed the sheet to Ren, and she tried to write as neatly as Taylor had. When the curly-haired attendant took the paper back, she gave a towel to Ren and Taylor and a smaller rag to Petro.

"All right, Taylor, you know that the smaller spring over there is for kids, right? And it's still divided for boys and girls."

"Right, of course I remember! Let's go, Ren."

Ren followed Taylor to the back of the room eagerly, where there were two doors. Taylor opened the door on the left, which led to a small hot spring with a fence in the middle. A taller fence was to their right, which had to be for the adults' hot spring. They could hear a few voices from the other side of the large fence, but they were the only ones at the smaller area.

"I always come here around now because there's usually hardly anyone else here," Taylor said. "I also heard that it's good for you if you come at the same time every day. The water feels really good."

He then stepped behind the fence, and Ren blushed as she looked away, even though she couldn't see him anyway. After she heard Taylor step into the water, she opened one eye, and saw the sleeve of his shirt sticking past the fence. Her eyes darted around before she finally slipped off her skirt and T-shirt and stepped into the water. Petro dove after her as well, causing a small splash.

Taylor laughed slightly. "I guess you just got in then."

"Yep!" Ren smiled as she stepped further into the spring. "It does feel nice. I think Petro likes it even more than me."

"Chu!"

Petro was floating around on top of the water, looking more relaxed than usual. He spread out his arms, and Ren giggled again.

"I wish I could have my other Pokémon in here, but I left them at the Center."

"Oh, yeah, I usually let my Pokémon in here, too," Taylor commented. "Hitmonlee likes the water a bit more than Hitmonchan does, though."

"W-well, I really like it!"

Ren smiled, sinking down into the water a bit more. She was definitely glad that Taylor had brought her, or else she might not have noticed the hot spring at all…

* * *

A little over half an hour later, Taylor and Ren had climbed out of the water and started to dry off. They had to sign the clipboard again to check out, and they were currently walking back to the Pokémon Center with Petro in tow. After a short stop at a snack vendor, they were eating chips as they walked. Petro occasionally jumped up and reached into Ren's bag for a chip as well, causing both trainers to laugh.

"Oh, yeah, Ren? Do you happen to have any Pokémon that can evolve with a Moon Stone?" Taylor asked suddenly.

"Um, yes… Actually, I have two," she replied. "My Nidorino and Nidorina."

"Okay, good!"

Taylor fished into his pockets and pulled out a pair of black, crescent-shaped stones—Moon Stones. He started to explain as Ren put them into her own pocket.

"I got those a little while ago from one of my dad's research partners, and I've been trying to find someone to give them to."

"Research partners?" Ren asked, confused.

"Yeah! There's this small research facility on the island. The scientists mainly study ancient Pokémon, and my dad's one of them," Taylor said proudly.

"That's really cool!"

"Uh huh—oh! That reminds me; I told him I was going to help him with something! I'm sorry, but I have to go. Maybe I'll get to see you later depending on how long you're here."

"That's okay! It was fun earlier, Taylor!"

"Thanks! Bye, Ren!"

Ren watched as Taylor hurried away. She then looked down at Petro, who was shaking his head.

"We better get going, too. I want to get everyone else back from the nurse as soon as I can!"

"Pika," Petro nodded absently.

Ren hurried along the dirt path, and Petro followed just as quickly. Fortunately, she was pretty sure she remembered how to get back to the Center, and she was eager to see all of her Pokémon again, especially Rex and Regina.


	44. Chapter Forty Three: Vs Ponyta!

_Author's Note_: Okay, so… I'm making the gym pretty similar to how it was in the game, and Blaine has his Fire Red and Leaf Green team here instead of his Yellow Team. And Rex and Regina get to be cool…

Plus this is the longest chapter yet, I think...

**Chapter Forty Three: Vs Ponyta!**

Ren rolled her sleeping bag out in the back of common room with the help of Petro. They'd just finished eating dinner—rice as usual, and of course Petro had eaten most of it—and they were the first to enter the Center's sleeping area.

Quickly, Ren grinned and pulled Rex and Regina's Pokéballs out of her pocket and set them on the yellow sleeping bag. She paused before releasing them, taking the pair of Moon Stones from her pocket and setting them down as well. Petro watched curiously as Ren pressed the center button on each Pokéball, causing the two Poison-Types to materialize in front of her.

"O-Okay, guys," she started. "I just got these Moon Stones, and… I was wondering if you wanted to use them."

"Rina? Regina asked, looking down at the crescent-shaped rock.

"Nido!" Rex replied eagerly.

The Nidorino instantly tapped the stone with his horn. As he did, he slowly started to glow, and a few seconds later, he started to evolve. He grew several feet taller, and more spikes grew out of his back. As Rex spread his new arms, the Moon Stone's color faded.

Regina nodded, seeming to agree now that she'd seen Rex use the stone. She tapped hers with her foot, and similarly, a glow slowly passed over her. As the glow faded, her tail grew longer and she had a few more spikes on her back as well.

"Nidoking!" Rex cried proudly.

"Queen," Regina added idly.

"Pika!" Petro cheered.

"W-wow, this is great!" Ren beamed. "Well, I better recall you guys so you can rest."

The blonde grabbed their respective Pokéballs and withdrew them, and Rex was still smirking as he faded. Ren then crawled into the sleeping bag, and Petro curled up near her head. Ren smiled as she rolled over, glad that the lights were at least dim; they wouldn't go out all the way, however, until a few more trainers arrived.

"Well, Petro, that was cool! I'm all excited now… But I know I have to go to sleep, so I won't be tired tomorrow… If I remember right, there's a gym here, so I need to be ready…"

"Chu…"

As Ren closed her eyes, Petro gave a slight nod in agreement. Smiling again, Ren wondered if she'd be able to use her newly-evolved Pokémon in her gym battle the next day as she drifted off…

* * *

The next morning, Ren yawned as she sat up. Stretching, she looked down and noticed that she'd woken up before Petro for one. The Pikachu stirred a few seconds later, however, and got up groggily.

"Pika," he said blearily.

Ren giggled. "Let's just go get breakfast, Petro."

"Ka!"

Petro suddenly looked much more awake as soon as the words were out of Ren's mouth. He waited impatiently as she rolled up her sleeping bag and stepped around an unusually small number of sleeping trainers to turn it in. Then he scampered ahead of her to the Center's cafeteria.

Even though it was fairly early, Ren was still surprised at how short the breakfast line was. She took a plate with two biscuits and sat down at a table near the door. Petro grabbed one of the biscuits just as Ren set the plate down and nearly inhaled it. Ren smiled reluctantly as she ate hers slowly.

"You don't have to eat so quickly…"

"Chu," Petro replied, rolling his eyes.

Ren shook her head, and a few seconds later, she was finished with her breakfast as well. When she stood up to throw the plastic plate away, Petro scurried after her, and they returned to the lobby. Fortunately, there was a small map posted near the Pokémon Center's door, so Ren paused to look at the guide on the way out.

"Okay… The gym's a little far from here, but not too much," she explained. "W-We should probably hurry, though, just in case."

Nodding, Petro darted towards the door. He tried to push it open, but then he realized that it was a bit too heavy for him and gave Ren an exasperated look. Laughing slightly, Ren slid the glass door open for Petro and was just as excited about the gym battle as he was…

* * *

Ren stopped to catch her breath as she and Petro paused in front of the gym. It was just a short distance past the hot springs, but the path had been rather winding.

After a moment, Ren nervously reached out to touch the gym's door handle. The gym was a dome-shaped building that somewhat resembled a volcano; there was even a small hole in the roof that steam was pouring out of. Taking a deep breath, Ren pushed open the heavy iron door and stepped inside.

"Pika?"

Petro had hurried ahead of her again, and he sounded confused. Ren blinked as well as she looked around; she was in a black-walled, red-tiled room that was empty save for a computer monitor in the corner. Curiously, she walked over to it and saw that there was a question displayed on the screen.

'_Select the correct answer to move on to the next room,'_ it read. _'Does Caterpie evolve into Butterfree or Beedrill?'_

Ren quickly grabbed the mouse and clicked on _Butterfree_. The computer beeped, and a door opened on the other side of the room. She and Petro grinned as they walked through the door.

However, they instantly stopped again upon arriving in the next room. It was identical to the previous room, complete with the quiz terminal. Sighing, Ren walked over to the computer to check the question.

'_Answer correctly to move on. Can Poliwag evolve two or three times?'_

She had to pause and think for this question… Ren then remembered that Poliwhirl could evolve into two separate things, not two more times after Poliwag. Relieved, she selected the _'two'_ option.

Similarly to the last terminal, the computer beeped in success, and a door to the next room creaked open. Petro and Ren slid into the next room, only to find yet another quiz computer. Ren was glad that she'd answered both questions correctly so far, but she was starting to wonder how many more quizzes there were…

'_How many Kanto League Badges are there? Eight or ten?'_ the computer screen said. _'Choose the right answer to face Blaine, the Gym Leader.'_

"Phew," Ren sighed aloud as she selected _eight_.

The computer buzzed as the room's door unlocked. Ren paused again after she walked into the next room with Petro in tow. There were torches hanging around the room, and in the middle, there was a platform suspended over boiling water. A balding man wearing sunglasses and a long white coat was kneeling next to a Ponyta in the back of the room, but looked up when he heard Ren enter.

"Ha! It's been a little while since someone solved all the quizzes correctly," he chuckled. "I just changed 'em, and after two days of hearing people complain, I was wondering if I'd get anyone at all."

"Well… um… the second one _was_ kind of tricky," Ren stammered.

"But that's the point! I like that kind of trivia. Anyway, the name's Blaine—you're here to fight, aren't you?"

Ren nodded. "Y-yeah… I'm Ren, and… W-wait, what's up with the water? You, uh, have that Ponyta, so…"

"That's an easy answer there, Ren," Blaine winked. "Since the water is boiling it helps raise the temperature in the gym and powers up Fire attacks slightly. It also helps my Pokémon get used to being around water."

"Oh," Ren replied. Now she knew for sure that she'd be using Rex and Regina… Igloo probably wouldn't be as strong as he usually was.

"Ha! You don't need to look so scared. Are you ready to start the battle?"

"Err, yeah. I think so, at least."

Petro trotted after Ren as she walked across the thin bridge to the platform. Contrarily, Ponyta walked in front of Blaine. Pausing, Ren eventually decided to start with Regina. It was hard to tell since Blaine's glasses were so dark, but he still looked calm as the Nidoqueen materialized next to Ren.

"All right then! This battle should be fun," Blaine remarked. "For the record, substitutions are allowed, and you can use up to four Pokémon. Now, Ponyta, lead with Ember!"

"Ah… Use Sludge Bomb, Regina!"

Ponyta's tail and mane flared as it shot several small coals from its mouth. Regina countered by launching a large ball of sludge at the horse Pokémon. As the Sludge Bomb hurtled towards Ponyta, it deflected the Ember, and both attacks hit the Fire-Type. The Ember didn't seem to do much damage at all, but the Sludge Bomb clearly struck it hard. It reared up and neighed loudly as the attack hit it, and landed roughly back on the platform.

While it seemed almost ready to collapse, it was clear that Ponyta still had a bit of fight left in it. Ren looked at Ponyta, trying to come up with a good attack. Obviously Regina couldn't use Dig or Earthquake due to the platform being suspended…

"Well, I guess you can try Rock Throw…" Ren suggested.

Nodding, Regina narrowed her eyes and raised her arms. Large boulders started to form around her, and as she threw her arms forward, the rocks flew towards Ponyta. They hit it one by one, and it whinnied again as it finally fell over.

"Just as I thought; you're off to a good start," Blaine chuckled again. "But the real fight's on with Rapidash!"

After recalling Ponyta, Blaine released a much larger fire horse. A long horn rose from its forehead, and its mane and tail burned more brightly than Ponyta's had. Ren gulped, but tried to stay confident… Before she could come up with an attack, though, Blaine called one out.

"Fury Attack, Rapidash."

The Fire-Type charged forward with its head lowered and horn pointed out, and its hooves pounded against the platform. Ren gasped, fumbling for a counter and finally thinking of one.

"Uh… Sandstorm!"

Regina quickly raised her arms and spun around once. She stomped one foot to the floor, and sand and dust fragments appeared around her. Soon, the whole room was filled with swirling, sandy wind, and Rapidash sputtered as it stopped in its tracks. On the other hand, Regina wasn't bothered at all.

"This isn't a difficult riddle, Rapidash! Use Sunny Day to answer it."

Rapidash squinted, and the fire on its body suddenly flared up. The Sandstorm slowly faded away as the room grew even warmer, and more sunlight seemed to be filtering through the windows.

"Okay, good one," Blaine replied with a grin. "Now use Solar Beam!"

Ren felt her eyes widen. "Ack! Use Sludge Bomb again, Regina."

Rapidash lowered its head again, firing a lime-green beam from its horn. In counter, Regina shot another Sludge Bomb from her mouth. The two attacks caused a bang when they collided, and Ren, Blaine, and Petro all covered their eyes momentarily.

When they looked up again, both Regina and Rapidash had fainted. Apparently the collision had been strong enough to rebound and hit them both, causing enough damage to knock them out… Regina managed to move slightly, but then she fully passed out a second later.

"Ha, ha! I wish I'd gotten to see the actual hit. Rapidash and Nidoqueen are both pretty tough, eh?" Blaine seemed nonchalant as he withdrew Rapidash, although he was down to two Pokémon when Ren could still use three. "I guess I'll give you a slight break and use Growlithe."

As they each recalled their Pokémon, Blaine reached for another Pokéball. He released a small, red puppy Pokémon, and Ren smiled for a moment, reminded of her mother's Growlithe. However, she then sent out Rex, knowing that she'd have to knock Blaine's Growlithe out.

"All right, Growlithe, let's give them a Bite attack."

"Try Shock Wave, Rex!"

Growlithe darted forward, bearing its sharp teeth. Rex glared at it as sparks shot from his horn, hitting it directly. The Fire-Type whined as it tumbled backwards, but it managed to get back up.

"I guess we should go with Rock Tomb now," Ren called.

Rex eagerly rammed his claws together and then raised them, creating four large boulders. He threw each rock forward, and they rammed sharply into Growlithe. It howled as it collapsed and rolled back towards Blaine.

"Heh. I told you it'd be a break…" The bald man chortled as he recalled Growlithe. "Even Nidoking might have trouble with Arcanine though."

Blaine proceeded to press the release button on his fourth and last Pokéball to send out a giant, majestic dog Pokémon. Its mane and tail were white, but the rest of its fur was red with black stripes like Growlithe. Ren got nervous again as she looked at the large Arcanine, but tried to shake off the feeling.

"Okay, Arcanine! Give Nidoking an Extremespeed move."

"Oh, no… Try Counter, Rex!"

Arcanine streamlined itself as it ran towards Rex. It collided sharply with him, causing him to stumble backwards and nearly fall over. However, he stood back up, and his eyes started to glow. A burst of energy shot from him to Arcanine, reflecting the power of the Extremespeed. When the retaliatory move hit, Arcanine yelped and looked almost as tired as Rex did.

"Hm… You should be able to finish with Flamethrower!"

Arcanine nodded a bit weakly, shooting a stream of flames from its mouth. Too tired to dodge, Rex was hit dead-on, and the singed Nidoking collapsed. Ren gasped as she recalled him.

"Sorry, Rex… I guess I should use Petro now."

"Chu…"

Petro walked forward, a mixed look on his face. He was obviously glad to be battling, but he also seemed a bit disappointed that he was just finishing Arcanine off.

"Come on, Petro, this'll be fine! Use Thunderbolt."

"Pika!

The Pikachu perked up as his cheeks started sparking. He then discharged the electricity, easily hitting the worn-out Arcanine. Similarly to Growlithe, Arcanine howled as it fainted, and Blaine withdrew it with a reluctant smile.

"Hey, losing's a bit disappointing, but the battle was pretty fun! I've just got one more question for you before I give you a Volcano Badge," Blaine grinned.

"R-Really?" Ren tried not to groan.

"Don't worry, it's not hard! What has one entrance and two exits, but always ends in the same thing?"

Ren paused for a moment before answering. "Oh, that is easy! It's a pair of pants, right?"

"Ha, ha! Good job!"

Blaine reached into one of the pockets on his coat and pulled out a flame-shaped badge. After he handed it to Ren, she put it in the same pocket with all her other badges.

"Th-thanks, Blaine!" Ren smiled. "I better get back to the Pokémon Center, though…"

"Yeah, Nidoking and Nidoqueen sure need the rest," Blaine replied cheerily. "Good luck for later, Ren!"

The blonde waved as she carefully walked back across the bridge to the main floor. As she and Petro started to walk back to the gym's entrance, Ren's smile grew, and she was glad that she'd done better than she'd expected.


	45. Chapter Forty Four: Vs Vaporeon!

_Author's Note_: You're probably thinking, "But Orangen! You said this was a FR/LG crossover, so what happened to the Sevii Islands?" Well… All I have to say is, you'll see. Plus I'm definitely doing something here that's not very Yellow Version-ish, anyway…

**Chapter Forty Four: Vs Vaporeon!**

"Hey, Petro?"

Ren tapped her chin thoughtfully as she looked at the map in the Pokémon Center's lobby. She and Petro had just finished eating lunch, and Ren was trying to decide whether or not to go on and leave Cinnabar Island. The map showed another sea route out of Cinnabar that led straight to Pallet Town, conveniently. However, it also looked like it would be a bit of a long surf for Igloo.

"Chu?" Petro asked, half-curiously and half-impatiently.

"Do you think maybe we should leave tomorrow morning? I mean, it might take a while to surf back to Pallet anyway… And then we'd get there pretty early…" Ren trailed off.

"Pika," Petro sighed, but then he nodded.

"Okay! I bet there's a lot of stuff we can look at around here while we wait."

Glad that Petro had agreed, Ren walked the short distance to the Center's glass door and opened it. The Electric-Type scampered ahead of her eagerly, and Ren smiled at his excitement.

* * *

Ren stretched as she and Petro returned to the Pokémon Center. They hadn't gone back to the hot springs, but they had looked around at the many tourist stalls along the way. Surprisingly, Ren hadn't bought too many souvenirs —just a necklace with a volcano-shaped metal tag on the end and a red bracelet that had "Cinnabar Island Hot Springs" in gold letters. She'd just liked looking at everything instead of buying too much.

Now she was a bit tired from walking around so much, and it was a bit late anyway; the lights were starting to dim a bit. Even Petro looked a bit tired, even though he was trying not to show it. Ren tried not to giggle at him as she rolled out a sleeping bag in the back of the Center's common room after walking around several trainers, glad to be going to sleep. After she slid off her shoes and crawled into the sleeping bag, Petro curled up near her head like he always did.

"Good night, Petro," Ren said sleepily.

"Chu," Petro yawned in response.

Closing her eyes, Ren managed to fall asleep fairly quickly, hoping she'd be able to get up early the next day…

* * *

The next morning, Ren stretched again as she woke up. As she looked around, she noticed that light was starting to filter through the windows, but it was still a little dark outside. There were a few more trainers than there had been before, too; evidently Ren was the first one to wake up.

Due to the extra trainers, Ren had to be careful when she rolled up her sleeping bag so she didn't hit the girl sleeping a few feet away from her. Ren started to stand up when Petro woke up slowly. The Pikachu's ears twitched as he gave a large yawn.

"Pika," he said groggily.

Ren giggled. "Well, now that you're awake, let's get breakfast."

"Chu!"

Petro perked up slightly at the mention of food. When they arrived in the cafeteria, there was already some food set on the serving bar, even though no one else was technically awake yet. Ren was still thankful, though, and grabbed a plate of waffles. She started to put syrup on them when Petro suddenly grabbed a plain one for himself. Giggling as she watched Petro wolf it down, Ren carefully ate her own waffles.

After a few minutes, Ren stood up to throw away her empty plastic plate. Petro scurried after her as she walked back into the lobby. When she opened the Center's glass door and took a few steps back outside, she looked down at Petro.

"I-I think the map said the way back to Pallet Town is just a little bit past the gym," she explained.

"Pika," Petro replied, looking relieved.

Ren smiled as well as she started to walk down the winding dirt path. After passing several small shops and stalls, she and Petro eventually walked by the gym, and Ren's smile grew as she remembered her battle from the previous day. Eventually, the path took a few turns, and the pair arrived at the northern edge of the small island. The rocky soil merged into sand, and the ocean spread out in front of them.

Immediately, Ren reached into her pocket for Igloo's Pokéball. She took a few more steps forward and released him into the water. The Blastoise stretched before leaning forward and letting Ren and Petro get onto his shell.

"Okay, Igloo, we just need to go straight from here! I think this trip will be a little shorter than the last two."

"Stoise!

Nodding, Igloo started to swim forward, and Ren closed her eyes in relaxation as a salty wind picked up…

* * *

"Phew… Looks like we've made it, Igloo! Good job!"

"Blast!"

Igloo sounded relieved as he slowed to a halt. He had just arrived in front of a rocky shoreline, and Pallet Town was a slight distance away. While the trip really hadn't been as long as the one to Cinnabar Island, Igloo was still a bit tired, and he grinned as Ren and Petro climbed off his back. The blonde quickly recalled the Water-Type, and as she started walking, Petro hurried after her.

"It feels like forever since we were last here! Right?" Ren smiled down at the Pikachu.

"Pika," he commented, nodding in reply.

It only took a few minutes before the rocky shore faded into the bright green grass of Pallet Town. Ren hadn't really noticed how close Pallet Town was to the ocean before, despite how she often walked around the town when she was bored. She was still glad to be back, however.

"Hey! Maybe we could stop at Professor Oak's for a visit and then take a break at home," Ren suggested suddenly. "What do you think?"

Petro nodded again, and Ren quickly tried to locate the professor's lab. Even if she'd somehow forgotten where it was, the lab was the easiest building in Pallet to find, anyway, as it was the largest. After a few more minutes, Ren and Petro had arrived at the big brick building, and Ren knocked on the door.

Several seconds later, Ren heard footsteps, and the door opened. Gino was behind the door, and he looked surprised to see her. He then looked away and quickly took a step back.

"Gi-Gino?" Ren blinked. "What's going on?"

The brunette muttered something under his breath. While Ren couldn't make much of it out, she did manage to hear the phrase "Silph Co."

"Oh." Ren scratched the back of her neck. "Well, um… I was just kind of stopping by, so… I can leave if you want me to."

"No… Uncle Oak said he wanted to check up on your Pikachu soon anyway."

"Uh, okay."

Gino quickly turned back around, and Ren shuffled after him confusedly. Rolling his eyes, Petro scampered after them. After a moment, Ren shifted to looking around curiously, as it was her first time inside the building. There were rows upon rows of tall shelves, and the lab seemed pretty organized.

Professor Oak was in the back of the lab, sitting at a desk and typing something on his laptop. He looked up and smiled, however, when he heard the two trainers approaching.

"Thank you for getting the door, Gino, and it's good to see you again, Ren."

"Oh, um, thanks," Ren said meekly.

"Pika!" Petro added, grinning.

"Ah, hello there," Oak grinned back.

Pausing, the professor carefully looked down at Petro. Cocking his head in confusion, Petro blinked. Professor Oak nodded and looked back up at Ren.

"Well, from what I can see, Pikachu _looks_ fairly healthy. However… I'd like to see how well he's actually been holding up. Would you two mind having a quick battle?"

"Who should I use, then?" Gino asked. "Vaporeon?"

"Yes, it's about time for another check-up for it, too."

"Vaporeon?" Ren blinked.

"Yes, my Eevee evolved a while ago," Gino clarified. "Anyway… here we go."

He released the blue mermaid Pokémon, and Petro promptly got into a fighting pose. Vaporeon, however, looked a bit calmer, although it was looking at Petro a bit condescendingly.

"Th-This shouldn't be too hard, Petro," Ren said, mostly to assure herself. "Just use Thunderbolt!"

"Quick Attack, Vaporeon," Gino countered coolly.

Petro built up some static in his cheeks and then released a large bolt of electricity towards Vaporeon. However, the Water-Type quickly darted around the attack, causing it to simply hit the floor and leave a small singe mark. Vaporeon then crashed into Petro, making him stumble over.

"Hmph. Now use Water Gun!"

Obligingly, Vaporeon opened its mouth and shot a stream of water at Petro. As it hit him, Petro flew backwards, and he eventually crashed into a bookshelf. Fortunately, while the shelf shook for a second, it didn't fall over. Petro, however, looked almost ready to faint from a combination of the getting hit by the attacks and crashing into the shelf.

"Chu…"

Petro growled as he hauled himself back to his feet. He glared at Vaporeon weakly, but then something apparently caught his eye. Abruptly, he climbed up the shelf behind him, stopping on the third row where there was a small container in between the books. Then, he bent down and touched something on the shelf, and he tumbled down to the floor, glowing.

Landing on his feet and still glowing, Petro dashed towards Vaporeon. Ren blinked, almost convinced that Petro seemed to be getting bigger… Suddenly, however, the glow faded as Petro stopped directly in front of Vaporeon.

A large Raichu with a sparking fist stood in his place. Vaporeon seemed too surprised to do anything, and Petro easily hit it with a Thunderpunch. The attack caused Vaporeon to sail backwards, and it landed in a heap in front of Gino's feet.

Gino raised an eyebrow, blinking. "What just happened?"

"I-I kind of want to know, too…" Ren trailed off.

"Oh," Professor Oak started, a look of realization on his face. "I received a few evolution stones from a colleague, and I was keeping them on that shelf there. Petro must have seen the light shine off of one of the Thunder Stones, and…"

"Rai." Petro nodded satisfactorily.

"Um, okay," Ren answered, grinning but feeling a bit guilty. "You don't mind that he used one of your stones?"

"Of course not—I have plenty of them. Also, I'd say this most certainly proves that your new Raichu is in good shape."

"Well, that's good," Ren said, relieved. "Come on, Petro! Let's go on home, then. Bye, guys!"

"Good bye, Ren!" Professor Oak replied, and Gino mumbled a farewell of his own.

Ren waved as she walked back towards the front of the lab. She was glad to be getting back home… Although it was also a bit weird having Petro walk behind her as a Raichu instead of a Pikachu.


	46. Chapter Forty Five: VS Dugtrio!

_Author's Note_: Huzzah… I'm finally to the eighth Gym battle! This'll be fun, given that Ren's in for a surprise…

**Chapter Forty Five: Vs Dugtrio!**

"Rai…"

Ren yawned, but closed her eyes more tightly instead of getting up. The poking on her shoulder turned into static, and she suddenly jolted up. Confused, Ren looked around, wondering how she'd gotten back into her room and why Petro was orange.

Then she remembered that Petro had evolved the day before and she'd gone back to her house after leaving Professor Oak's lab. Mrs. Mason had been very excited, albeit surprised, to see Ren home, and Growlithe had happily tackled her several times, much to Petro's annoyance.

"Good morning, Petro," Ren said sleepily as she stood up.

Petro folded his arms as Ren crawled out of bed. The smell of breakfast was wafting up the stairs; obviously, Petro was annoyed that the food wasn't ready yet. Ren giggled as she stood up all the way and stretched.

"W-We always eat breakfast at the same time every day," she explained with another yawn, "so you can't go early like at a Pokémon Center…"

"Chu," Petro sighed.

Giggling again, Ren walked out of her small room and down the stairs with the Raichu in tow. Then, after going through the living room, she entered the kitchen and sat down at the table. Mrs. Mason looked over her shoulder and grinned as Ren sat down, and then turned back to the frying pan.

"Good morning, kiddo. Breakfast is almost done; I just need to finish frying these eggs."

Meanwhile, Growlithe was looking up at Mrs. Mason expectantly. He was probably waiting for her to take a piece of the finished bacon off of its plate and hand it to him, but Petro glared suddenly at him. Startled, Growlithe stepped back a bit.

A few seconds later, Mrs. Mason scooped the eggs off of the frying pan and separated them onto plates along with the bacon and some toast. She put down the larger plates for herself and Ren, and the two smaller plates for Petro and Growlithe. Ren was used to watching Petro wolf down his food, but she blinked as she watched Growlithe eat.

"Um, Mom? Isn't he supposed to be on a special diet? Because he's so old and stuff?"

Ren poked at her eggs with one of her bacon strips as she waited for Mrs. Mason to answer.

"Well, we can make an exception today," she winked. "I mean, you're home! And you've earned yourself seven badges while you've been gone. So where is it that you're getting your eighth badge from?"

"Um, I don't know… I know there are eight gyms in Kanto, but I don't know where the eighth one is…"

"Well, let's see what badges you've got, then!"

Mrs. Mason smiled as Ren swallowed a bite of her eggs and pulled out her badges. The blonde carefully set them down in order, starting with the Volcano Badge from Blaine and ending with the Boulder Badge from Brock. Thoughtfully, Mrs. Mason looked down at the badges, and then seemed to realize something.

"I know that the one you're missing is the Earth Badge," she started. "When I was a trainer, it was one of the easiest badges to get, but now I've heard people say that it's the most difficult."

"Wh-Why?" Ren blinked.

"That's because the gym in Viridian City seems to go through leaders so quickly lately. Ever since its original leader retired, the newer ones have been getting stronger and stronger. Oh, and I also heard that the current one is hardly ever in the gym to begin with."

"The gym in Viridian, huh… W-Wait!" Ren cried. "Mom, I've been to Viridian City lots of times, and I've never seen a gym! I don't think I saw one the last time I was there, either…"

"Well, it probably hasn't been well-kept lately, so it's not very conspicuous," Mrs. Mason replied with a shrug, brushing a piece of her dark hair from her face.

"I guess that makes sense… But Mom, where did you hear all this, anyway?"

"Mainly from Professor Oak. He stopped by the other day to tell me to tell you to stop by his lab the next time I saw you, but you already did that yesterday, didn't you? Anyway, that's when he started telling me about how Gino hasn't gotten his eighth badge, either."

"Oh. I guess I'll get going after breakfast, then… If that's okay with you, Petro."

"Rai!"

Petro nodded eagerly, and Ren and Mrs. Mason burst into laughter at his enthusiasm.

* * *

"Well, here we are again, Petro…"

Petro nodded as he and Ren arrived in the outskirts of Viridian City. Shortly after finishing breakfast, Ren had gotten a few things together and then headed on to Viridian. The blonde was now looking around carefully as she started walking through the city's neatly-paved paths.

"Chu."

Sighing, the Raichu looked over at Ren expectantly. She paused for a second before answering him.

"Well… Judging from what Mom said earlier, I guess we should look for places that _don't_ look like a gym."

The pair then silently wove around the sidewalks. Unfortunately, nearly every building in Viridian looked well-kept, and Ren was starting to get nervous. Maybe her mother had been wrong after all? Either the gym was in better condition than Mrs. Mason thought, or it was somewhere else…

Suddenly, however, Ren noticed another turn in the path right before the northern edge of town. She wondered how she hadn't noticed it when she'd gone towards Viridian Forest, which now felt like a very long time ago. Glancing at Petro, who shrugged nonchalantly, Ren gulped and started walking again.

After a few seconds, they arrived at a somewhat dilapidated wooden building that was partially surrounded by trees. Boards covered a few of the windows, and a crooked sign was hanging on the door; the letters were almost too faded to read, but Ren could make out "gym" on the bottom row of words when she squinted. She nervously opened the door, and it creaked as she and Petro stepped inside the dark, single room.

"Um, hello?" she called, and Petro echoed "Rai!" a few seconds afterwards.

The hairs on the back of Ren's neck stood up as she heard a chuckle near the back of the room. Abruptly, the lights flickered on, and Ren had to shield her eyes for a minute. She blinked to adjust her eyes to the light, and then gasped when she saw the man across from her; Petro similarly bristled.

"Gi-Giovanni?" she stammered.

"Chu!" Petro added angrily.

Giovanni smirked, idly petting his Persian as it sauntered over to him from the corner. "Well, well. We meet again, little girl."

"What are you doing h-here?" Ren squeaked. "What about Team Rocket?"

"Hm… Let's just say that after that debacle at Silph Company, I needed some time to recover. A few of my higher-ranking subordinates seem to be losing faith in me, you see, and they requested that I take a short… break. I've been the Gym Leader here for a few years, you see, and the League still has no idea that I lead Team Rocket."

The blonde gasped as Giovanni finished his explanation. "But why is this place so hard to find, then? Don't you want people to come?"

"Put simply, I'm a very busy man. Now, this is enough out of you—did you come for a battle or not?"

Ren swallowed as she nodded, but Petro still wore his usual defiant look. She instinctively reached her hand into her pocket for a Pokéball as Giovanni released a Pokémon of his own. A Dugtrio materialized next to him as Persian curled up next to his feet. Hurriedly, Ren pulled out Venus's Pokéball and released the Venusaur.

"I don't believe I should make Persian waste the effort… Dugtrio, begin with Tri Attack!"

"Ah… Venus, use Magical Leaf!"

Each of Dugtrio's heads launched a separate ray of the Tri Attack. In response, Venus spread out the flower on her back and fired several brightly-colored leaves at the Ground-Type. Venus's attack fortunately managed to block the Tri Attack, and a few of the leaves even hit Dugtrio. Venus looked rather proud as Dugtrio winced.

"Hm… A Dig will suffice."

Venus had started to fire off another Magical Leaf. Right before the attack would have hit, though, Dugtrio quickly dug into the gym's weak flooring, causing the leaves to just land on the ground. Confused, Venus began to look around, and seconds later Dugtrio resurfaced and crashed into her. Angrily, Venus retaliated on her own, not waiting for Ren to say a different move as she slapped Dugtrio with a Vine Whip. Dugtrio cried out in shock and slumped over, fainting half from surprise.

Giovanni silently recalled Dugtrio. He then pulled out three Pokéballs, acting as if he was trying to decide which to send out. Abruptly, he released all three Pokémon, sending out a Nidoking, Nidoqueen, and Rhydon. Ren blinked at the Nidoking and Nidoqueen, thinking of Rex and Regina, and thought that the Rhydon was familiar—it had probably evolved from the Rhyhorn Giovanni had used at Silph Company. She realized a moment later that the Gym Leader was using all three Pokémon at the same time instead of one by one.

"Th-That's cheating," Ren stuttered.

"I never said that either of us had to fight 'fairly'," Giovanni replied, sounding slightly irritated.

"Okay…"

Feeling a bit strange, Ren sent out Igloo to use along with Venus. The Blastoise gave Venus a confident look, and they glared at the three Ground-Types in front of them.

"Um, use Surf and Magical Leaf, guys," Ren called.

Igloo shot twin streams of water from his canons, and the water formed into a giant wave. He continued to fuel his Surf as Venus shot out another Magical Leaf. Her leaves flew into the wave, adding to its speed.

"_I will not lose to you again_! _I will not suffer another humiliation_!"

Before the combined attack could even hit, Giovanni's voice hissed from the other side of the room. Ren gasped as a sudden explosion rocked the room. She, Petro, and Venus ducked, and Igloo immediately withdrew into his shell.

When the smoke cleared, the gym was completely empty, and the roof and two of the walls had collapsed. Water and leaves from the Surf and Magical Leaf combo were scattered among the debris. Ren shakily stood up as her three Pokémon got up and looked around warily. She carefully withdrew Venus and Igloo, and then looked down at Petro.

"I… I don't know what just happened," she sighed. "But… I guess this means we didn't get a badge…"

"Rai!"

Petro shook his head abruptly and pointed across the area. Among the pieces of broken wood, Ren could make out a few small shiny spots. She slowly walked forward and pushed aside the planks, trying to avoid getting splinters. When she'd cleared the floor a bit, Ren saw several green, feather-shaped badges reflecting the sunlight.

"Are these Earth Badges?" Ren blinked.

"Hey!"

Ren jumped as she heard a voice. Spinning around, she saw Gino jogging towards her, and the brunette had a rather confused look on his face.

"What happened here?" he frowned, slowing to a stop. "I was just looking for the gym when I heard something loud from this direction…"

"Um…" Ren scratched the back of her neck as Petro picked up an Earth Badge and handed it to her. "This _was_ the gym, Gino… I-I just fought the Gym Leader…"

"No way." Gino's frown grew deeper. "You're saying the explosion happened during the battle? And who was the Gym Leader, anyway?"

_Well, I guess it _did_ happen because of the battle_, Ren thought resignedly. She said aloud, deciding it would probably be best not to outright admit Giovanni was the leader, "H-He was a very strange guy."

"I wonder what'll happen with this place now, then… And I guess I won't be able to get a badge from here anytime soon."

Gino quickly turned around, sounding disappointed. Hurriedly, Ren picked up one of the extra Earth Badges and handed it to him.

"Gino, he left these here," she replied.

She put it into his hand, and Gino stared at the badge for a second. He started to shake his head and hand it back to her, but then he stopped his hand in midair.

"I was about to give this back to you, but a badge is a badge." Gino slipped the Earth Badge into his pocket, and then looked back up at Ren. "Hey, you know about the Pokémon League, right?"

"Yeah, I think so," Ren answered confusedly. "It's at Indigo Plateau, isn't it?"

"It is. Uncle Oak told me that Indigo Plateau is pretty close to here, and that after I get eight badges, I can go. And I bet I can get there before you can!"

Gino smirked as he started to walk away, and Ren gaped at him for a second. Petro suddenly poked her, looking irritated, and she quickly started speaking again.

"But Gino! I… I got my eighth badge in a b-better way than you did!"

The brunette simply laughed as he continued to stride off. Ren hung her head slightly as she looked at Petro.

"Well, Petro… We really need to rest… And then tomorrow we'll go to Indigo Plateau, too!"

"Chu!"

Petro looked excited as Ren started to head for the Pokémon Center, clearly as curious about the Pokémon League as she was, and Ren couldn't help smiling slightly at his usual eagerness.


	47. Chapter Forty Six: Vs Golbat!

_Author's Notes_: This chapter is sort of short… But it's pretty important due to Victory Road. Obviously, I'm not including Moltres… Nor am I putting in those annoying boulder puzzles.

**Chapter Forty Six: Vs Golbat!**

"Chu!"

Ren yawned as she sat up and stretched. She and Petro had stayed the night at Viridian's Pokémon Center, and, as usual, the Raichu had just woken her up. However, Petro didn't look quite as impatient as he usually did; it was fairly early, after all, and Ren had gotten up right away.

"H-hang on…"

Stifling another yawn, Ren rolled up her sleeping bag and returned it to the front of the common room. She then hurried after Petro to the cafeteria. There were several trainers there already, but it wasn't too crowded… After Petro poked her, looking annoyed, Ren hurriedly grabbed some toast and sat down at a table close to the serving bar.

The Raichu wolfed down his breakfast, staring at Ren as he waited for her to finish. Ren giggled slightly as she brushed some crumbs off of her shirt. She was definitely used to Petro doing everything so quickly, but she always tried to at least eat slowly…

Swallowing the last bite of her slice, Ren stood up. "All right, Petro, we can go now."

Petro impatiently darted towards the cafeteria's door, startling a few trainers coming in as he waited for Ren. Sheepishly, Ren caught up with him, and the pair headed to the lobby. Once again, Petro hurried to the door and had to wait for Ren to catch up. Opening the glass door, Ren smiled as she stepped outside. She then looked down at Petro, grinning slightly.

"Okay, let's see," she said thoughtfully. "Pewter City is north of here, right? And Pallet's south, of course… And I think the only other way we can go from here is west… So the Indigo Plateau must be in that direction."

Petro nodded hurriedly, looking bored with Ren's process of thinking aloud. As Ren turned away from the Pokémon Center, Petro surprisingly didn't hurry ahead of her. Viridian's sidewalks quickly turned into dirt paths as Ren and Petro reached the outskirts of town. As many times as Ren had been to Viridian City, she was always surprised by how small it was.

Looking around for a moment before heading on, Ren paused. They'd just passed a small alcove that seemed somewhat familiar.

"Hey, Petro! Isn't this where we found Rex and Regina?" she grinned.

"…Rai," Petro groaned, nodding.

"I thought so," Ren replied.

Petro then tapped her on the knee, interrupting her from remembering her capture of the two Nidorans. Sighing, Ren kept walking, and soon they came to a somewhat rocky area that contrasted suddenly with all of Viridian City's trees and bushes. In the distance, Ren could see several small hills and then a large mountain.

The blonde gulped. "I guess we have to get through all that to get to Indigo Plateau…"

Shrugging, Petro carefully stepped away from a rock in the path. Ren sighed again nervously as she looked ahead, hoping to get through the rocky route as quickly as possible…

* * *

"I thought it was far away… but not _that_ far away…"

Ren panted as she reached the base of the mountain, and even Petro looked a bit tired. A small cave entrance was nearby, and the chilly air from inside was not making Ren feel any more confident.

It had taken the pair nearly half an hour of dodging stones, stepping around sparse, craggy tree roots, and going in a few circles to reach the cave. The path had been quite a bit longer than they'd expected, and Ren had stopped to catch her breath. After a few moments, Petro perked up, and Ren felt a bit more relaxed.

"Okay, if we got through all that, I think we can get through the cave," Ren said, more to encourage herself than Petro.

The Raichu nodded, and the pair ducked into the cave simultaneously. Although the temperature suddenly dropped, at least makeshift lamps had been set up throughout the tunnel, probably by hikers. The path ahead seemed to wind around quite a bit, as Ren could see a few turns.

Surprisingly, Ren actually felt like hurrying along with Petro… The tunnel just seemed creepy to her. As the pair darted around the first turn they came to, Ren could feel the temperature drop a bit more. She sighed, wishing that she'd thought to change into a longer-sleeved shirt when she'd been home.

For a few moments, the only sounds in the cave were Ren and Petro's footsteps. However, after a few moments, Ren heard fluttering noises. The pair looked around, Ren a bit more nervously then Petro, and spotted a few Golbats flying over their heads. Petro looked ready to fight, but Ren shook her head.

"I-I don't think they want to fight Petro… They're not even looking at us. Maybe if we're just quiet, they'll ignore us…"

"Rai!"

Petro shook his head stubbornly, and Ren sighed. He was probably thinking it was better to go ahead and knock them out… Or he just felt like fighting.

Either way, the Electric-Type clenched his fists as his cheeks started to spark. The Golbat group looked down in surprise and shrieked as he launched a Thunderbolt. Two of them tumbled down and fainted mostly out of surprise, but the two others were barely hit.

Ren instinctively backed up as one of the remaining bat Pokémon dove toward Petro. However, he easily hit it with a Thunder Punch and then launched another Thunderbolt at the other one. Petro had a smug look on his face when the last two fell to the ground as well.

"Petro…" Ren frowned. "You really didn't have to do that…"

"Chu," he replied insistently.

"Oh well… Just don't do that again, okay?"

Sighing, Ren scurried around the next turn after Petro, hoping that they didn't run into any other wild Pokémon…


	48. Chapter Forty Seven: Vs Raichu III!

_Author's Note_: Well, after two years from the fic's beginning, Ren finally reaches the Pokémon League. I know, I know, neglectful fic author, right? Well, anyway, this chapter's a bit short, but at least we finally have the League battles to look forward to!

**Chapter Forty Seven: Vs Raichu III!**

"Finally!"

Ren exclaimed in relief as she and Petro ducked through a narrow passageway. Fortunately, Victory Road had been much shorter than she had anticipated, and it had only taken a few turns through the tunnel before the pair had reached the exit. The slightly rocky path in front of them quickly filtered into a grass-lined path, and a concrete building was visible in the distance.

"Chu!"

Nodding in agreement, Petro darted forward. Ren smiled as she caught up with the Raichu, and the two soon reached a statue-lined path that led straight to the building. There were mainly Dragonite replicas, but there were a few Dragonair and Aerodactyl ones as well.

Ren gulped, suddenly nervous, as she looked at the statues. Did all of the League members own such Pokémon, or did only the final one have dragons? And if so, was that trainer really strong enough to get statues based on his team sitting outside the League's headquarters?

"Rai…"

Petro frowned and suddenly poked Ren. Blinking, she looked up and scratched the back of her neck sheepishly. They'd apparently arrived at the League's front doors while Ren had been busy thinking about the statues. Trying to push aside her nervousness, Ren slowly opened the heavy doors.

When they stepped inside, they entered a thickly-carpeted lobby with darkly-painted walls. The room seemed to give off a formal but imposing feeling at the same time. It was nearly empty, save for a few trainers lingering near one of the doors on the right wall, and Ren looked around in confusion.

"Um… What do you think we should do, Petro?"

"Chu!"

Petro pointed towards a counter in the back of the room. Several black-suited attendants were standing behind it, looking a bit bored. Ren scurried towards it, and one of the men looked up.

"Yes?" he droned.

"Um… What should I do if I want to fight in the Pokémon League?"

Another one of the attendants turned around as Ren finished speaking. He pulled a sheet off of the shelf behind the counter and handed it to her along with a pen.

"Just fill that out, and you can challenge them any time you're ready," he explained. "We're going to have to see all of your badges, though…"

Ren quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out her badges. After she carefully lined them up on the counter, she looked down at the form. It required a surprisingly small amount of information—just her name, age, hometown, and team—so she filled it out easily. The attendant nodded at her as she handed the paper back to him and collected her badges.

"All right," he continued. "Just so you know, you'll have to fight our Elite Four all in a row. Usually, you only have to fight the four of them, but occasionally they'll have you fight another trainer who's beaten them recently."

"Uh, okay…" Ren gulped slightly, but shook her head; now wasn't the time to be getting nervous. "I-Is there anywhere near here I can stay until tomorrow, then? Because it's kind of late now…"

Yet another of the attendants nodded. "Yes, we have a few rooms upstairs for trainers like you who arrive late."

He gestured to a staircase in the back of the lobby. Sighing, Ren smiled as she started walking towards it.

"Thanks!"

Petro suddenly darted ahead of her, almost causing Ren to trip as she reached the stairs. She sighed again as she held on to the banister and followed the Raichu. Fortunately, they arrived on the second floor quickly enough, spotting several closed doors in addition to a few open ones.

Hesitantly, Ren peeked into the nearest open room. Thankfully, it really did seem to be free; no one had left any belongings on the desk or either of the two beds. Petro grinned as he leapt onto one of the beds and flopped backwards. Giggling, Ren sat down on the opposite bed and slid her shoes off.

"Well, Petro! It's kind of exciting that we got so far," Ren grinned.

"Rai!" Petro replied indignantly, as if to say "Of course!"

He then spontaneously rolled onto his stomach, apparently indicating that he was tired. Blinking over Petro's sudden attitude change, Ren wondered if he'd really had very much energy in Victory Road as she thought he'd had. She then stood up with a shrug, closing the door and turning off the room's lights.

As she crawled into bed herself, Ren closed her eyes and tried to work up her confidence for the next day's battles.


End file.
